


Love Isn't Always Fair

by thatscalledyes



Category: Black Veil Brides
Genre: Bandom - Freeform, Drama, F/M, Romance, teen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-02
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2017-12-17 11:50:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 29
Words: 22,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/867201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatscalledyes/pseuds/thatscalledyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Athena finally meets her idol at Warped tour 2011. But what happens when he starts falling for her? Athena not only has a boyfriend but she's only 16. CC can't possibly fall in love with a 16 year old girl… could he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When I look at you

The summer of 2011 was when everything changed.

Athena, her best friend Lacey, and her boyfriend Max were on their way to Warped Tour 2011. For Athena, Warped Tour was the only place where she felt she belonged.

"Max, hurry up! We need to get there!" Athena jumped up and down in her seat, unable to contain her excitement.

"I'm going the speed limit, woman! Do you want to get in a crash?" Max flipped some of his black hair out of his eyes.

Lacey giggled in the back seat. It was Lacey's first time at Warped Tour and she was nervous, excited and scared all at the same time.

"So, who are you most excited to see, Lacey? Being a first-timer and all." Max looked in the rear view mirror at her while trying to ignore Athena squealing in the seat next to him.

"Black Veil Brides!" Lacey began.

"Duh!" Athena finished.

"Ashley Purdy is so hot." Lacey cooed.

"I'm excited to meet Andy. He's done so much for me." Max said.

"I want to tell CC how much he means to me since- Ooh! Look!" Athena said. "Comcast Center, next right! We're almost there!" She pointed to the brown sign as they passed by.

"Yeah, but look at all this traffic leading to the venue." Max said as he pulled off the highway and started towards the venue.

"I'll get out and walk if I have to." Athena slumped in her seat.

She had been counting down the days since December. Back at home, Athena didn't feel like she belonged. She didn't really fit in with her family or anyone at school except Max and Lacey.

Max had been Athena's best friend since the first grade and he had always had feelings for her. When they hit high school, Max decided he needed to grow some balls and finally ask her out. Luckily for him, Athena had felt the same way all along.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. We're here." Lacey said.

"Oh my god. Lacey, look how fucking beautiful it is!" Athena exclaimed.

Max pulled up to the spot that the employee with the bright orange t-shirt had directed him to and they all got out of the car.

Athena linked arms with Lacey and took Max's hand. The three of them walked through the parking lot and to the entrance. They handed over their tickets and got them scanned and were let into the venue.

"Holy shit. Look at this place." Lacey looked shocked at all the people and sounds and sights.

"Hey, I got us some maps." Max said, as he joined Athena's side once again.

"Fuck!" Athena cursed, while scrolling through her phone.

"What?" Max questioned.

"Black Veil Brides play in twenty minutes on the Monster Energy stage! I just read Andy's tweet. We need to get over there! I want to be right up front!" Athena grabbed onto Lacey's hand and Max's hand and started pulling them in the direction of the stage.

~Thirty minutes later~

"You guys are fucking awesome, you know that?" Andy said into the microphone.

Athena and Lacey screamed along with the rest of the crowd.

"Okay. This is our second to last song. This is Heaven's Calling."

"Woo!" Athena cheered and looked back at CC.

Out of all the band members, CC was her favorite. He always made her smile; something she didn't do often.

He spotted her and gave her a smile and a wink that melted her heart.

"Oh my god, Lacey! CC just winked at me!" Athena exclaimed and Lacey fan-girled with her.

Max watched his girlfriend fan-girl over CC and an immediate wave of jealousy flooded over him.

As soon as the concert was over, they rushed over to Black Veil Brides's tent to wait in line to meet the guys.

After standing in line for almost an hour, it was finally their turn. Max couldn't wait to meet Andy and tell him how much of an influence he has been on his life. Lacey just wanted to see Ashley and his 'outlaw' tattoo up close. Athena wanted to finally meet CC and give him the letter she wrote for him.

After going down the line, Athena finally got to CC. Jinxx had just handed him her CD so he was looking down, signing it. Athena looked down at the letter in her shaking hands.

"Here you go!" CC's cheery voice rang through her ears as he handed her the CD.

She took it from him and then handed him the letter.

"Is this for me?" CC asked, a little bit of surprise noticeable in his voice.

Athena nodded. "Yeah, I-" She looked up at him and their eyes met for the very first time.


	2. This isn't right

Her green eyes locked with his brown ones. Butterflies hit his stomach when he watched her push her auburn locks out of her eyes. A shock went through her whole body when he smiled at her. Her legs grew weak underneath her and she put her hands on the rail separating them to keep herself up.

"Yeah, uh, that's for you." She managed, looking down at the ground.

"Wow, thanks. Not many fans actually write me letters."

Athena nodded and gripped the bar tighter. CC looked at her arms and saw the scars.

"Hey, look at me." He said.

She looked up at his face and saw the look of disappointment in his eyes. "You have beautiful eyes." He said. "Come here." He motioned for her to come around to the other side of the barrier.

He opened his arms for her and she cuddled up next to him. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Promise me you won't cut anymore, okay?" He felt her nod against his chest. "And thanks for the letter. I'll read it tonight."

She looked up at him and smiled.

"Athena! Come on, we're going to miss Falling In Reverse!" Lacey shouted.

"Thanks." Athena smiled and hurried off to join Max and Lacey.

CC watched her walk away.

***

CC sat on the bus in his bunk that night reading Athena's letter. It was the only one he got that day.

_CC:  
I wanted to write you a letter because, well, I know that you probably don't get them often. Out of all the members of the band, you have been the one that spoke to me the most. Before I found the band, I was a wreck. My mother left us for another man and I never really see her anymore. The kids at school make fun of me a lot. I started cutting, attempted suicide, and all this shit. Well, then I found you guys. Your music has saved my life. You have saved my life. You're just so funny and you seem so carefree. You always make me laugh. You can always make me truly smile; something I don't do anymore. Thank you for just being you. I wrote and re-wrote this one letter over six times because I just wanted to make sure it was perfect just for you._

She had also added in her twitter in the hopes that he may let her know what he thought. He couldn't stop thinking of her green eyes and how her auburn hair fell perfectly around her face. He looked her up on twitter and found she was only sixteen years old.

"This isn't right. I can't have feelings for a fan. Let alone an underage fan. God, CC. What's wrong with you?" He muttered to himself.

"Hey, CC? What's wrong?" Jinxx sat down next to him.

Jinxx could always tell when any of the guys were having a tough time with something.

"Hey, Jinxx. I don't know. I met this fan today and she was... gorgeous to say the least."

"Well, that's great, dude. Did you get her number and all?"

"No, Jinxx. That's the problem, see, she's sixteen..."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. I'm fucked. I can't stop thinking about her. But, dating her would be like rape or something."

"I'm sure you'll forget about her as tour goes on. We still have a lot of summer left. You'll meet a new girl that isn't sixteen. Don't worry." Jinxx patted him on the back and stood up to walk back to the living room.

CC sighed and flopped back onto his bed. He picked up his phone and began to type:

_Dear Athena..._

***

"Athena, wake up. You're home now." Max gently shook her awake.

"Hmm?" Athena slowly sat up. "Max, carry me..." She whined.

Max sighed and got out of the car to walk around to the other side and pick Athena up. He carried her into the house and laid her down on the bed. She curled up on her side and started to drift back to sleep.

"Will you be okay on your own tonight?" Max's voice was barely audible to her sleepy mind.

"Mhm." She nodded.

"Okay. I'll see you later. Goodnight, lovey." Max kissed her forehead and headed back out to his car.

Athena started to drift off to dream world.

_She looked around the empty room and the only two people there were her and CC._


	3. What if I can't forget you?

_Athena looked around the empty, pale blue room and then back at CC. He began walking closer to her and she did the same. They met half way._

_"CC? What are you doing here?" Athena asked._

_"I just couldn't stay away from you. I had to see you again." He admitted, looking straight into her eyes._

_There was a sudden rush of noise and the room began to fill with people, all BVB fans. A red, velvet chair rose from the floor and CC walked over to it and sat down as the fans lined up in front of him for autographs._

_"What's going on?" Athena asked but received no answer._

_CC continued to sign autographs like she wasn't even there._

_"CC?" She called out to him._

_"You need to go, Athena. Just forget about me." He said._

_"Wait, what? None of this makes any sense!" Athena cried. "What if I can't forget you?"_

_"Athena!" A voice called out to her from behind._

_"Go." CC encouraged._

_Her dream had turned into a nightmare. CC didn't want her._

_"Athena!" The voice beckoned again._

_She began walking in the direction of the voice. As she got closer and closer, a bright white light appeared._

"Athena! Wake up!" Lacey and Max soon became visible.

"Athena, you're crying. Are you okay, babe? Bad dream?" Max's face was contorted into a look of worry and concern.

Athena knew that Max wouldn't like hearing about CC being in her dream so she switched it up a little.

"Yeah, you were there and you said you never wanted to see me again."

Complete lie.

"Oh, baby, come here." Max pulled her into him. "I would never leave you."

Great.

"I know." Athena pulled away from him.

"Okay, enough with all this mushy shit. I wanna go have fun today!" Lacey exclaimed.

Athena laughed. "Okay, okay. Let me just check my twitter real quick."

"It's not worth it, A. He probably hasn't said anything. I checked this morning and got nothing from Ashley." Lacey said.

"Yeah, same here. Nothing from Andy." Max added.

"Well... I still want to look. I want to tweet that we're hanging out today, okay?"

"When are we not together? But, whatever." Lacey said. "Just don't get upset when you see we were right."

Athena rolled her eyes and typed in her password. She brought up twitter and logged in. She checked her 'connect' tab and saw she had a few new followers but no new mentions. Her smile began to fade away. She sent her tweet about being with Max and Lacey and then thought she would check her direct messages, just in case.

She brought the cursor up to the button next to the search bar and clicked it. She went down to direct messages and clicked on it. She had one new message from CC. Her mouth formed into an ear-to-ear smile.

_Dear Athena..._


	4. You always want the one that you can't have

CC checked his twitter messages every day for three weeks straight and still got no response from Athena.

"You need to stop worrying about this girl, dude." Jinxx said as he sat down next to CC on the bunk. "We're all going out tonight. You should come with us."

"I don't know, Jinxx. I-"

"You should stop torturing yourself. It's our last night of tour. After we play tomorrow, we'll be on a plane back home. It'll help take your mind off her, too."

"Alright," CC sighed as he pulled on a pair of black converse. "Let's go."

"CC's coming with us!" Jinxx called out.

A collective "Yay!" was returned as CC and Jinxx went and joined the rest of the guys in the living room.

"Let's go. I'm getting laid tonight." Ashley said as he made his way to the door of the bus and stepped off.

"You get laid every night!" Jake exclaimed as he and the rest of the guys followed.

They walked the few blocks to the club down the street from the venue.

"CC, CC, CC." Jake put an arm around his shoulders. " **You** , my friend, are getting laid tonight. I'm going to make sure of it."

"Uh, no, that's really okay, Jake. You don't have to go to all that trouble for me." CC said nervously.

"Nah, you need some lovin', dude. You've seemed off lately."

They walked up to the bar and flashed their ID's to security before being let into the night club.

"Jinxx and I are going to get drinks." Andy shouted above the music.

Ashley was already out on the dance floor with some skinny, blonde girl grinding on him.

"See any you like yet?" Jake asked.

He looked over at CC's unsure look and pulled him away to a booth in the corner of the room. Jake got into the booth and CC slid in across from him.

"What's going on with you lately? You haven't been very 'CC' lately."

"I don't know, dude." CC put his head in his hands.

"What's on your mind? Ever since our stop in L.A., you've seemed...off. It's a girl, isn't it? You met a girl at Warped."

"Yeah, but-"

"I knew it!" Jake cut him off.

"She's sixteen." CC finished his sentence.

"Oh, shit, man. That can't happen."

"I know. But I couldn't forget her if I tried."

********

_Dear Athena,_

_Thank you so much for your letter. This time, **you** made **me** smile. Not many people write me letters like you did. All the letters usually go to Andy. I'm glad I've been able to help you through so much. I hope I can continue to help you. I really did mean it when I said you have beautiful eyes. You're a very pretty girl and I hope you know that. I also hope you remembered our little promise. Let me know how you're doing with it and if you ever feel like you might want to cut, please don't. Talk to me if you ever feel like you want to. I hope you're doing well and maybe we'll see each other again soon._

_Love,  
CC_

"How am I supposed to respond to this flawless message, Lace?" Athena pushed her computer aside and sat down next to her friend on the bed.

Lacey just shrugged.

"Oh, come on, Lacey."

"What? I can't help it that I'm jealous. You would be, too, if you were me."

"Okay, I'm sorry. But they are still on tour. Ashley's probably just busy as is the rest of the band." Athena tried to make her feel better.

"If they're all 'soo busy', then how come CC had time for you?"

Athena couldn't answer that. She has no idea why CC had sent her a message so fast.

"Oh, I know why." Lacey said. " He liiikkkkesss yooouuu!"

"That's impossible, Christian Coma of Black Veil Brides? Like me? No way in hell."

"Oh, please, Athena. Don't deny it. _'I really meant it when I said you have beautiful eyes'_ and oh, don't forget _'You're a very pretty girl'_. He so likes you, A."

"No, he was just being nice."

"Deny, deny, deny. Keep denying but you know, deep down, it's true. Unlike Ashley... He's busy alright. Too busy banging some chick..."

Athena looked down at her lap. She didn't know what to say to that because she knew it was most likely 99% true.

"What about Max? Does he know about what CC's message says?" Lacey broke the silence.

"No..." Athena looked down again.

"Do you think he'll ever know? Would he be mad?"

"Why would he be mad?"

"Well, because you like CC--looove CC--and it's obvious he likes you."

"Yeah, but I'm only 16. CC is old enough to be like my older brother. And you know, Lay, you always want the one that you can't have. But I have Max and I don't think CC would break Max and I up **if** he did in fact like me."

"But he **does** like you!"

Athena rolled her eyes and went back to her computer. "What am I supposed to say to him? How do I respond to this?"

"You've left him hanging for three weeks so you could think of what to say. There's gotta be **something** in that brain of yours."

"Okay, okay. I think I have an idea of what I'm going to say."

_Dear CC..._


	5. Dear CC,

"I mean, look at him. That's not CC. That's someone else in CC's body." Jake commented.

"Ever since the stop in L.A., he's been acting all weird like this." Jinxx agreed.

"It's that girl he saw at Warped."

"The sixteen year old?"

"Yeah, he told you about her?"

"Yeah, he can't shut up about her."

Jake and Jinxx walked over to the booth that CC sat at alone and slid in with him.

"Come on, dude. It's just one girl you'll probably never see again. Why must you be so hung up on her like this?" Jake asked.

"Way to be sincere." Jinxx elbowed him in the side lightly.

CC sighed. "I don't know, guys. I just can't seem to shake this. I kinda just want to go back to the bus."

CC stood up and started to walk towards the door. "I'll wait for you guys outside." He called over his shoulder before disappearing in the sea of people.

Jinxx and Jake looked at each other.

"Maybe he's sick?" Jake suggested.

"Yeah," Jinxx said. "Love sick."

Jinxx took hold of Jake's wrist and pulled him through the crowds to find Andy and Ashley. They found Andy at the bar.

"Andy, we have to go." Jinxx said.

"That time already?" Andy asked.

"It's CC..."

"You've noticed that too? Is he okay?"

"I don't know..."

"I see Ashley. Let's grab him and head back to the bus." Andy walked over to Ashley and took his wrist and pulled him away from the girl he was dancing with.

"Hey!" Ashley whined but then looked back over at the girl and mouthed 'call me' before he disappeared among the crowd.

They walked back to the bus with CC practically running ahead of them all. CC was the first one on the bus. He dived into his bunk and pulled up twitter to see if Athena had finally answered him. A smile formed on his face as he read:

_Dear CC,  
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to respond to you. I wanted to make sure it was perfect, just for you. I really appreciate your compliments on my appearance, but I'll tell you honestly, I don't really think I'm all that pretty. I don't think very highly of myself at all. I have a lot of self confidence issues. I will tell you that you're the reason I haven't cut in three weeks. I'm trying really hard because I don't want to let you down. I don't want to break that promise. If there was a chance for us to see each other again, I would drop everything just to come see you. Maybe another concert in the future. I'll keep on the lookout for it and be the first one to buy tickets. I hope you are doing okay. I mean, I'm sure you are. You're Christian fucking Coma after all. I never, not once, have seen you in a bad mood. Keep smiling!(:  
Love,  
Athena_

Athena sat in her room alone with Black Veil Brides blasting and just surfing the internet. There was a knock on her door so she turned down the volume as she said "Come in." Athena's sister, Jane, poked her blonde head in.

"Hey." Jane said. "Eric and I are going out for a little. You'll be okay by yourself until Dad gets home, right?"

"Yes, Jane." Athena sighed. "I'm not going to have Max over. And I'm fucking sixteen. Not six."

"Jesus. Calm your tits. I'm just trying to be big sisterly." Jane smiled at her.

Athena and Jane were really close as sisters. Athena told Jane practically everything.

"Outta the way, Janester. Gotta have a heart-to-heart with my best girl here." Eric pushed passed Jane and into Athena's room.

At the sight of Eric, Athena pulled her knees up to her chest and huddled up in a ball in the corner of her bed. Athena couldn't stand Eric.

"Whatever," Jane said. "I'll be downstairs. Come find me when you're done talking to dork face."

"She said with so much love." Athena commented as Jane left down the stairs.

"Athena. Greek goddess. Your name suits you, you know." Eric sat on the bed next to Athena.

"What do you want, dick face?" Athena spat.

"To make sure our little secret is still... a secret."

"Yes... I haven't told anyone..." Athena gulped as Eric moved his face closer to hers.

"Not even Jane? I know how close you two are."

Athena could smell the tobacco and alcohol mix lingering on his breath.

"Especially not Jane."

"Good." Eric stood up and walked out of the room to join Jane downstairs.

Athena ran to her door and slammed it shut. She looked over at the dresser and walked over to it; opening the top drawer and pulling out a small box. She lifted the lid and watched as the light glinted off the metal razors placed neatly in the box. She picked one up and examined it before taking a deep breath and putting the razor back down in the box.

She knew she couldn't let CC down. She placed the box back in the drawer and went back to sit on her bed. She sat there and allowed the terrible memories to resurface and flood her mind.


	6. The legacy, born from a dream

"We're home!" CC shouted as he dropped to his knees in the middle of the airport and kissed the floor.

"Ew, CC. Get off the floor. That's gross." Ashley helped him off the ground.

"That's the CC we were missing." Andy patted him on the back.

"Yeah, I guess I was just feeling a tad bit homesick." CC said, although he knew that wasn't the real reason he was so happy to be home.

They were finally back in L.A. CC had met Athena at their Warped tour stop in L.A. which meant that Athena lived in California. Somewhere. California is a big state but CC had a feeling she lived in the L.A. area. Well, he hoped at least.

They walked out of the terminal and into the bright, L.A. sun. Andy, Jake and Ashley rode in the same car because they all lived generally close to one another. CC went with Jinxx. CC threw his luggage into the trunk of Jinxx's car before jumping in the passenger side.

"Good to be home, huh?" CC said, looking over at Jinxx as he got in the car.

Jinxx started the car and started on the twenty minute ride to drop off CC.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see my Sammi." Jinxx said.

An awkward silence fell over them. CC looked out the window at the houses going by and wondered if any of them could be Athena's. He wanted to find her, no matter what it took.

"Hey, CC?" Jinxx's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" CC looked back over at Jinxx.

"Did Andy tell you about the local gig we have coming up?"

"Gig? Where?"

"House Of Blues. I'm not sure why we're doing it. John set it up for us, I think. But yeah, and I heard it's open to the general public like a normal sh-"

"Really?!"

"Um, yeah... Wh-"

"When is it?"

"Would you stop cutting me off?"

"Okay... I'm sorry..."

"It's next week, sometime. Thursday, I think."

"Great! I'll see you later?"

By this time, Jinxx had pulled up into CC's driveway.

"Yeah. We'll probably have a practice soon. I'll text you. Sleep, okay? You need it." Jinxx advised.

"Oh, yes Father." CC joked.

He closed the car door and walked up the narrow path way to his front door as Jinxx pulled out of the driveway and drove off. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. He stepped into the living room, dropped his bags in the middle of the room, walked over to the couch and plopped himself down, finally relaxing for the first time since Warped tour started.

****

Athena awoke that morning in a cold sweat and tears rolling down her cheeks. She had another bad dream, but this time, it was about Eric. She cleaned herself up and sent a quick text to Lacey.

To Lacey: **Can you come over? Jane has Eric over and I would feel a lot better if I had a friend right now.**

Lacey replied within a few minutes.

To Athena: _Be there in 5._

Sure enough, five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Lacey didn't know about what happened between Eric and Athena. No one but Eric and Athena knew. Athena wanted to tell someone but she didn't want them to judge her. She didn't want people to know what she had done.

The only thing Lacey knew was that Athena hated Eric. It was hard not to hate him, though. He just had an ugly personality overall. No one knew what Jane saw in him.

Athena raced down the stairs to answer the door. "I got it! It's for me, anyway!" She called out as she ran down the hallway towards the door.

She opened the door and, sure enough, there stood Lacey.

"Hey, you-" Lacey began but Athena grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the house.

"Let's go for a walk." Athena suggested.

"Well, alright, I guess." Lacey said.

They started walking down the side walk, further and further from the house.

"Hey, I have an idea." Athena said. "Let's sing some Black Veil Brides song really loud and obnoxiously and annoy all the neighbors."

"Sounds like fun to me!" Lacey exclaimed.

-

CC had just put his head down on the couch pillow when he started to hear some kind of weird noise coming from outside. It sounded like... singing?

-

"THE LEGACY! BORN FROM A DREAM! ON LEATHER WINGS, ROSE FROM THE STREETS WITH OUR HAND ON DESTINY!" Lacey and Athena shouted together as they walked along.

-

As CC got closer to the curtained window, it sounded like the voices were scream-singing their song _'The Legacy'_. He pulled back the curtain and looked out the window. There, walking by his house, was Athena.

His mouth dropped open and he rubbed his eyes as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. That couldn't be Athena... Could it?


	7. Band practice no-shows

Athena hadn't heard from CC in a few days. She began to worry that he didn't want to talk to her anymore.

To Lacey: **Why hasn't he messaged me back? Oh my god. He hates me. That's it. That _has_ to be it.**

Athena couldn't stand the thought of her idol hating her.

To Athena: _He doesn't hate you, A. I'm sure he's just exhausted from Warped. Plus, you kept him waiting for 3 weeks. It's been 3 days. You'll survive._

To Lacey: **Okay, okay. Good point, I suppose. Ugh. I hear Eric... Gah. I just want to punch somebody in the face. Preferably Eric...**

To Athena:  _Do you need me to come over?_

 _ To Lacey:  _ **No, I think I'll be alright. I'll just stay in my room until he leaves. If I need you, I'll text you.**

Athena put her phone down on the bed and walked over to her open window and pulled out her notebook from under the chair that sat next to it. She looked down at the blank page that sat in front of her. She didn't know what she was going to write, but she just felt she needed to write something.

After a few moments, she decided to write a letter to CC. Other than Eric being downstairs, CC was the only other person on her mind. She decided to tell him about what happened between her and Eric. She doubted she would ever give the letter to CC, but she needed to get her thoughts on paper.

"God, I feel like I'm in that movie _'Dear John'_ or some shit." Athena said to herself as she wrote.

She started to hear music. At first, she thought her iPod might have started playing in her bag. She went over to check it but it was off.

"Huh." She shrugged and went back to the window.

The music started getting louder and louder. She soon realized that the music was coming from down the street, a few houses down. It almost sounded like _'Children Surrender'_   by Black Veil Brides.

Athena decided she had to go see what was going on. She opened the door of her room and checked the hallway for signs of Eric. All clear. She slipped out of her room and into the hallway. She took a few steps before a hand was placed on her shoulder. She slowly turned around. At the sight of Jane, she immediately relaxed.

"Hey, where are you going?" Jane asked.

"Uh, nowhere. I thought I heard music coming from down the street and I wanted to check it out." Athena admitted.

"Oh. Well, it's probably just a house party or something. You know Joey always has those."

Joey being one of their college neighbors down the street.

"Yeah, I was just-"

"So why do you hate Eric?" Jane cut her off. "Is there something you aren't telling me, Athena?"

"N-No. I don't know what you're t-talking about."

"Yeah, okay. Cause I'm really going to believe you after you stuttered like that."

Athena looked down at the floor.

"Anyway," Jane continued, "You know you can tell me what's going on, okay? Tell me when you're ready. Promise?"

Athena nodded sullenly.

"Okay. Well, for the meantime, why don't you hang out with us? Maybe you and Eric can bond a little. We were going to watch _21 Jump Street'_. I know you love that movie. And Channing Tatum."

Athena laughed a little. She did love herself some Channing Tatum, admittedly.

"Eric does, too." Jane said.

"Eric loves Channing Tatum?" Athena giggled.

"No, I meant he loves the movie, you idiot." Jane laughed along with her sister. "Maybe you two can bond over it. 'Fairy dust, motherfucker!'" Jane quoted and made Athena laugh even more.

Athena really did like the movie but being in the same room as Eric made her uncomfortable.

"Okay..." Athena finally said. "I can't resist the fairy dust." They both laughed again. "As long as I sit on the opposite side of the couch as Eric."

 

 

******

"CC. Remind me why we're doing this, again..." Andy said as he opened the garage door.

"We're practicing for the gig!" CC said.

"But why couldn't we have just rehearsed at the studio?" Jake complained.

"Because, then I would have had to lug all my drum stuff to the studio. Besides, it's kind of fun to rehearse in the garage like old times when we were teenagers and our bands were just getting off the ground."

"I agree with CC." Jinxx said. "Let's practice and just have fun with it."

They played through two songs and nothing happened. CC had hoped that the sound of the band practicing would lure Athena out of her house so he could see her again and she would see that they live near each other. Two hours, six songs, and four angry neighbor fights later, rehearsal was over and Athena never showed up.


	8. I have to go

_Hey Athena!_   
_I have some good news! The guys and I are doing a gig at the House Of Blues on Thursday. Here's a link to the event. I hope you can come. I would really like to see you again and maybe I can hook you up with backstage passes._   
_Love,_   
_CC_

"DAD! DAD! DAD! AAAHHH!" Athena shouted.

"What?! What's going on?!" Athena's dad burst into the room holding a kitchen knife. He looked over at his daughter, jumping up and down, squealing. "What on earth are you doing? Are you fanning yourself? Wait. Are you... crying?"

"It's called fangirling, Dad." Athena said between short breaths. "Okay. Okay. I'm good... Um... What's with the kitchen knife?" Athena pointed to the knife in her father's hand.

"I thought you were being murdered or something!"

"Oh... Sorry..."

"Anyway, what was so important that you had to scream bloody murder to get my attention?"

"Dad. Black Veil Brides. Thursday. House Of Blues. Must. Go. Please." Athena pleaded.

"Black Veil Brides..." Her dad contemplated. "That's your favorite, right?"

Athena nodded vigorously.

"Well, alright. But how are you going to get there? Don't look at me. I have to work."

"What about Jane?"

"Talk to your sister about it. Is Max going, too? He could drive you, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I didn't think about that."

"I also want to make sure you have someone to protect you from those infamous mosh pits. I know what those are like. And no crowd surfing. We don't need any broken bones."

"Broken bones are the least of your worries when crowd surfing, Dad. But I know, I know."

Athena's dad used to be a hardcore rock concert goer back in his days. Athena pushed him out of the room and told him to tell Jane that she had requested her. A few minutes later, Jane came into the room.

From Max: **Grounded :/ Sorry, babe.**

"I was requested, your majesty?" Jane asked.

"Oh, yeah." Athena put her phone down on the bed. "Can you drive Lacey and me to the Black Veil Brides concert on Thursday at HOB?"

"Wish I could but I was called into work for Thursday night. Eric can take you guys. He loves Black Veil Brides. I'm sure he won't mind."

"Oh, okay. Great." Athena tried to act as if there was nothing wrong but oh, god.

Eric.

******

"Why won't you sit up front with me?" Eric complained.

"Um, no. I'm good back here with Lacey. She needs my company, anyway." Athena said in return.

The rest of the car ride was silent except for the sound of Black Veil Brides's music filling the car. The only reason Eric had to stay with them was because Athena's dad wanted to make sure her and Lacey had a guy to protect them. Oh, the irony.

"Alright. Let's do this." Eric said, getting out of the car; the girls following his actions.

Eric was pretty intimidating. Standing at 5'10'' with huge plugs, he was intimidating and admittedly kind of attractive but Athena didn't want to admit that to herself. All her thoughts were focused on CC.

They pushed their way through the crowd and to their place in the audience. There were tons of other kids around. Athena couldn't believe she had gotten tickets to a sold out show.

It was nearing seven o'clock and Athena's anxiety was shooting through the roof. The crowd started to scream and Athena looked up to the stage to see the band walking out. She and Lacey jumped up and down and tried to wave to CC.

"Hey! Athena!" It looked like he said from on stage.

A huge smile spread across her face.

"Hey gorgeous." A voice said from behind her.

She turned around to see some random guy trying to hit on her. "Not interested, asshole." Athena said and turned around.

The stranger slid his hands around her waist and spun her around to face him.

"I said back off, jerk!" Athena pushed him away but he kept insisting.

"Hey!" A deep, familiar voice shouted.

Athena looked over and saw Eric...standing up for her? This couldn't be right. He was here to protect her but Athena never thought he actually would if she needed to be protected.

"Quit it, asshole." Eric barked at him. "That's my girlfriend's little sister and no one lays their hands on her."

 _Except you._  Athena wanted to say but decided that it would be best to keep her mouth shut at this moment.

"What are **you**  going to do about it? You're just a pathetic, skinny little scene boy." The stranger said.

"You know, fuck you." Eric said. "What, you come here to a rock concert just to pick up little girls and make fun of the band? Pedo."

"Oh, that's all you got as a comeback?"

"Eric, please stop this. Just let it go." Athena begged.

"No. He touched you and I'm going to make him pay for it."

Something really weird had come over Eric. He was suddenly being very protective over Athena and she didn't understand. She thought that she meant nothing to Eric. She didn't think he actually cared about her.

"Eric-"

And then the first punch was thrown. Let the fight begin.


	9. Please, don't leave me

Eric's fist connected with the stranger's nose, causing a crunching sound and the stranger to stumble backwards slightly. The stranger reached up to his bloodied nose before throwing a punch that Eric swiftly dodged.

"You're a fag and she's a little slut." The guy said.

At that point, Eric lunged at the stranger, pinning him to the ground and sending repeated punches to his face.

Athena felt pressure on her arm and looked over to see Lacey holding onto her with tears filling her eyes. Poor Lacey had never seen a fight before.

"Eric! Please stop this! You're going to kill him!" Athena cried.

"That's the point!" Eric growled and continued to beat the guy underneath him.

"Hey! You two! Knock it off!" Athena looked over to see two very tall and very large security guards making their way over to them.

One of them pulled Eric off the stranger and the other picked the stranger off the ground. The stranger obediently left the venue and Eric was taken by one of the security guards and forcefully removed from the building. Athena held onto a still crying Lacey. Confusion jumbled her mind into a big mess. She couldn't understand what had caused Eric to want to beat this guy to death.

"Are you Athena?" A voice called out to her and pulled her out of the depths of her thoughts.

"Y-Yes. That's me. What-"

"Please come with me." The security guard ordered.

"May my friend come with me? Please, I'm the only one she has. I can't leave her here on her own."

"Yes, that's fine. Now, if you would please follow me."

Athena and Lacey followed the security guard through the crowd and through a door that appeared to lead to a hallway that contained many rooms on either side. The security guard arrived at a door that had a sign on it that read 'Black Veil Brides _un_ -dressing room.'  
'Un' had been scribbled on in front of 'dressing room'.

The guard opened the door and allowed the girls inside. "You may take a seat. Someone will be with you in a few moments." He said before closing the door and returning to his post.

"Athena...What the hell just happened?" Lacey's shaky voice filled the silent room.

Athena couldn't answer. She had no idea what had just happened. As much as she hated Eric, she did hope he was okay. She just couldn't get over Eric's sudden protective behavior. None of it made any sense.

A group of voices and laughter was heard outside the door. Lacey and Athena looked at each other. The door opened and the voices poured inside, filling the room with noise.

"We so kicked ass, bro!" One voice said.

"Dude, that was so awesome!" Another said.

The guys from Black Veil Brides walked in.

"Athena!" CC shouted.

He ran over to her as she stood up from the couch. He picked her up in a hug and spun her around.

"CC! Can't... Breathe..." Athena coughed.

"Oh, sorry..."He released her from the hug and sat down on the couch, motioning for her to sit next to him. "Oh, I don't believe we know each other yet." CC looked over at Lacey who was still sitting on the couch, awkwardly.

"I'm Athena's friend..." Lacey said shyly, not taking her eyes off Ashley.

"Well, Athena's friend. Do you have a name?" Ashley walked closer to her.

"Oh, uh, yeah, Lacey."

"That's pretty." Jinxx commented.

"So..." Athena began but CC cut her off.

"I saw the first punch and Andy was still trying to get his mic working so I snuck off stage and warned security and told them to bring you back here."

"Oh..." It was as if CC had read her mind.

"Yeah, goddamn stage techs didn't give me a working mic in the first place." Andy grumbled while he started packing up his things.

"Um, it's getting late. We need to get home." Athena interrupted Andy's little rant.

"Let me take you home." CC offered.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to have to go out of your way."

"Oh, trust me. It's no problem." CC smiled.

"Well... Okay. But what about Lacey?"

"I'll take her home." Ashley said.

Lacey smiled widely. Ashley laughed at her over-excitement.

"Would you like that?" He asked her and she nodded vigorously.

****

"Thanks for the ride, CC." Athena said as he pulled up in her driveway.

"It was no problem. I live three houses down from you."

"Wait. What? Oh my god... You're kidding."

CC laughed which made Athena laugh. CC had the most contagious laugh.

"No, I'm serious."

"Oh my god. This night has been too much for me to handle."

"Why don't you get some sleep, then." CC suggested.

"Do you want to come in for a little? No one is home." Athena asked.

CC thought for a minute, going over the pros and cons of going inside an empty house with a girl that he most definitely had feelings for. After realizing that the pros outweighed the cons, he agreed to join her.

Athena led CC through the front door, down the hall, up the stairs and to her room.

"Hey, look! It's me!" CC pointed to the poster above Athena's bed.

Athena laughed as she sat down on the bed and CC sat next to her.

"So, are you okay? You're safe and all?" CC asked.

Athena nodded and felt her cheeks flush with heat. She was touched by the fact that CC cared so much about her. She saw him smile and she looked down, her hair covering her face so he wouldn't see how badly she was blushing.

"Aw, no. I want to see your pretty face." CC reached over and lifted her chin to face him.

He carefully studied her face as their faces began to get closer and closer. They kept moving closer to one another until their noses touched.

"No, CC. I-I can't do this." Athena backed away.

"Oh... No, it's cool. I get it. We pretty much just met. Things are moving a little too fast--"

"And I have a boyfriend..." Athena mumbled.

"And you have a boyfriend, and--Oh... You have a boyfriend..."

"I'm sorry, CC."

"No, it's okay, Athena. You don't need to be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. But I should probably go now." CC stood up and walked to the door.

"CC, wait." Athena said.

He turned around to look at her.

"Can you... Can you stay with me tonight? My dad is working the overnight shift and my sister will have probably heard about Eric and go over to his house after work and I'd rather not be alone tonight."

CC walked over to the bed and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Of course." He said. "I would love to stay with you."


	10. Skipping

A beeping sounds woke Athena up. She looked over at her clock that read 5:30 and rolled over and tried to fall back asleep.

"Athena! I hope you're up! First day of school!" Her dad called from downstairs.

Athena opened her eyes and looked next to her to see an empty space that had once been occupied by CC. Athena was a little upset CC had left during the night but then she remembered that he lived three houses down and she could see him after school.

"Athena!" Her dad's voice was getting closer.

Athena grumbled and got up out of bed. "I'm up, I'm up, god!" Athena called out to him.

After getting dressed and ready, she grabbed her bag and headed downstairs to the kitchen where her dad and sister were.

"Good morning, sunshine." Jane said as Athena sat down at the kitchen table. "Wanna tell me what happened last night with Eric?"

"Fuck..." Athena cursed under her breath.

****

"He tried to kiss you?!" Lacey exclaimed as Athena slammed her locker shut.

"Yes, Lace. He tried to kiss me." Athena confirmed.

"Why didn't you let him?! If it were me, I would've been all over Ashley."

"Um, it's called a boyfriend and his name happens to be Max, not CC. What happened with you and Ashley last night, anyway?"

"Oh, don't even mention that. The entire fucking car ride was silent and when I thanked him for the ride he was like 'Yeah. No problem.' and then drove off."

"I'm sorry, Lace."

"Whatever. How did you not know that you had a fucking rock star living in your neighborhood anyway?"

"You live next to a rock star?" Max walked up to them.

"Yeah, uh, Joey. He wants to join a band." Athena lied. "Oh, look at the time. I'm late for Branflakes's class." Athena turned and began to walk away.

"Hey, Athens!" Max called out. "Party tonight? There'll be tons of dope!"

"Ooh, sounds tempting but I can't. Sorry." Athena turned around again and hurried off to class.

She rushed through the door to try and beat the bell and slid into her seat, hoping not to be noticed.

"Hello class. I am Mr. Branelley and welcome to Latin two." Athena's teacher, Mr. Branelley, introduced himself.

Mr. Branelley was one of those younger teachers who was a complete nerd. Around campus, he was known as Branflakes. He had an abnormally small head for his broad shouldered body and was generally tall. He spiked his very short, blonde hair to a single point at the front of his head, like Alfalfa from _The Little Rascals_.

Athena's phone started buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out and hid it under her desk as she attempted to see who texted.

From CC:  **Hey, pretty face. Whatcha up to tonight? Thought we could hang.**

From Athena:  _Can't. Babysitting. :/_

From CC:  **Oh. Who?**

From Athena:  _Nosy, are we? The Pinkertons across the street, if you must know._

From CC:  **Oh, okay. What are you doing now?**

From Athena:  _I'm kind of at school right now._

"Athena?" Branflakes called on her.

She felt her phone buzz again in her hand and slid it under her leg.

"Yes, Mr. Branfl-elley?" Athena looked up at him as if she hadn't just been texting under her desk.

Mr. Branelley eyed her suspiciously before continuing. "Could you please read and then translate the sentence on the board?"

Athena looked toward the board. "Puella est callidus." She read and then translated. "The girl is smart."

"Very good. I wanted to make sure you were paying attention." Branflakes said.

"Oh, I always pay attention." Athena responded with a smile.

She looked back down at her phone again before Mr. Branelley could call on her again.

From CC:  **I'll come get you, then.**

From Athena:  _For fucks sake, CC. You can't just come and take me out of school._

From CC:  **Oops. Too late.**

The classroom phone began to ring and Mr. Branelley went to answer it.

"Athena? You're being dismissed. Your cousin is down in the lobby waiting for you." He said.

Athena gathered her things and walked out the door and down the hallway towards the main lobby. She entered the lobby to see CC's smiling face.

"Fucking hell, CC..." She muttered but couldn't resist the smile the crept across her face at the sight of him.


	11. Skipping

A beeping sounds woke Athena up. She looked over at her clock that read 5:30 and rolled over and tried to fall back asleep.

"Athena! I hope you're up! First day of school!" Her dad called from downstairs.

Athena opened her eyes and looked next to her to see an empty space that had once been occupied by CC. Athena was a little upset CC had left during the night but then she remembered that he lived three houses down and she could see him after school.

"Athena!" Her dad's voice was getting closer.

Athena grumbled and got up out of bed. "I'm up, I'm up, god!" Athena called out to him.

After getting dressed and ready, she grabbed her bag and headed downstairs to the kitchen where her dad and sister were.

"Good morning, sunshine." Jane said as Athena sat down at the kitchen table. "Wanna tell me what happened last night with Eric?"

"Fuck..." Athena cursed under her breath.

****

"He tried to kiss you?!" Lacey exclaimed as Athena slammed her locker shut.

"Yes, Lace. He tried to kiss me." Athena confirmed.

"Why didn't you let him?! If it were me, I would've been all over Ashley."

"Um, it's called a boyfriend and his name happens to be Max, not CC. What happened with you and Ashley last night, anyway?"

"Oh, don't even mention that. The entire fucking car ride was silent and when I thanked him for the ride he was like 'Yeah. No problem.' and then drove off."

"I'm sorry, Lace."

"Whatever. How did you not know that you had a fucking rock star living in your neighborhood anyway?"

"You live next to a rock star?" Max walked up to them.

"Yeah, uh, Joey. He wants to join a band." Athena lied. "Oh, look at the time. I'm late for Branflakes's class." Athena turned and began to walk away.

"Hey, Athens!" Max called out. "Party tonight? There'll be tons of dope!"

"Ooh, sounds tempting but I can't. Sorry." Athena turned around again and hurried off to class.

She rushed through the door to try and beat the bell and slid into her seat, hoping not to be noticed.

"Hello class. I am Mr. Branelley and welcome to Latin two." Athena's teacher, Mr. Branelley, introduced himself.

Mr. Branelley was one of those younger teachers who was a complete nerd. Around campus, he was known as Branflakes. He had an abnormally small head for his broad shouldered body and was generally tall. He spiked his very short, blonde hair to a single point at the front of his head, like Alfalfa from [i]The Little Rascals[/i].

Athena's phone started buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out and hid it under her desk as she attempted to see who texted.

From CC:  **Hey, pretty face. Whatcha up to tonight? Thought we could hang.**

From Athena:  _Can't. Babysitting. :/_

From CC:  **Oh. Who?**

From Athena:  _Nosy, are we? The Pinkertons across the street, if you must know._

From CC:  **Oh, okay. What are you doing now?**

From Athena:  _I'm kind of at school right now._

"Athena?" Branflakes called on her.

She felt her phone buzz again in her hand and slid it under her leg.

"Yes, Mr. Branfl-elley?" Athena looked up at him as if she hadn't just been texting under her desk.

Mr. Branelley eyed her suspiciously before continuing. "Could you please read and then translate the sentence on the board?"

Athena looked toward the board. "Puella est callidus." She read and then translated. "The girl is smart."

"Very good. I wanted to make sure you were paying attention." Branflakes said.

"Oh, I always pay attention." Athena responded with a smile.

She looked back down at her phone again before Mr. Branelley could call on her again.

From CC:  **I'll come get you, then.**

From Athena:  _For fucks sake, CC. You can't just come and take me out of school._

From CC:  **Oops. Too late.**

The classroom phone began to ring and Mr. Branelley went to answer it.

"Athena? You're being dismissed. Your cousin is down in the lobby waiting for you." He said.

Athena gathered her things and walked out the door and down the hallway towards the main lobby. She entered the lobby to see CC's smiling face.

"Fucking hell, CC..." She muttered but couldn't resist the smile the crept across her face at the sight of him.


	12. God, save my soul

"Thanks. I had a lot of fun." Athena smiled at him and he returned the smile.

"Good. I'm glad we were able to get to know more about each other."

"Yeah, and if my dad finds out I skipped half a day of school, you're dead 'cousin' CC."

CC laughed and reached over to give her an awkward side hug before letting her out of the car. Athena hurried up to her room to get ready for babysitting and checked her phone on the way up.

From Lacey:  **Where the fuck did you go today? You weren't at lunch and Jane said you didn't ride home with her?**

From Athena:  _Long story short: CC picked me up from school early so we could hang out._

Athena walked into her room and threw her phone over to the bed; not focusing on the phone at all.

"Ow!" Someone exclaimed.

Athena whipped around at the sound of the voice. "What the fuck?! Eric? What are you doing in my room? Creep."

Eric put Athena's phone down on the bed beside him and stood up. "I just, uh, came to see if, uh, you were okay. You know, after I was kicked out and everything. You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No...? I'm fucking fine, Eric. You can leave now."

Eric obeyed and walked out the door and down the hall to find Jane. Eric was getting weirder and weirder by the second.

"What is he smoking?" Athena muttered to herself as she ran a brush through her uneven hair.

She grabbed her jacket, keys and phone before heading across the street to the Pinkertons' house. She rang the doorbell and a few seconds later, Mr. Pinkerton answered.

"Ah, Athena! Hello! Come in, come in! Kids! Athena is here!"

There was a shrill scream as four year old Sydney and eight year old Brandon came running down the stairs.

"Brandon! Stop pulling Sydney's hair!" Mrs. Pinkerton scolded as she walked into the living room to greet Athena. "Hi, Athena. Thank you so much for babysitting for us. We were desperate."

"Oh, it's no problem at all." Athena said.

"Well, emergency numbers are on the counter and the kids should get tired in a few hours. We'll be home around 12:30 if that's alright?" Mr. Pinkerton asked and Athena nodded.

"There's money on the table in case you get hungry and want to order a pizza or something. Oh, and Brie is in the playpen. She'll be easy to put to bed." Mrs. Pinkerton added, referring to their third child who was about six months old.

Athena said goodbye and closed the door behind them. "God, save my soul." Athena mumbled.

"Athena! Braid my hair for me? Please?" Sydney begged.

Athena smiled down at her. "Oh, alright." Athena agreed.

Sydney cheered as she grabbed Athena's hand and pulled her towards the living room.

~2 hours later~

"Brandon, please stop taking Sydney's doll." Athena pleaded as she rocked the screaming baby in her arms.

The doorbell rang and Athena groaned as she walked towards it. "Who is i--Oh." Athena opened the door to see CC standing outside on the front step. "What are you doing here? I just saw you a few hours ago."

"Call me crazy but I couldn't stay away." CC admitted.

Athena blushed as she got lost in his deep brown eyes. The shrieking coming from the baby in her arms brought her back to reality.

"Ugh. This baby has been crying for an hour." Athena looked down at the baby and back up at CC. "Oh, come in for god's sake." Athena closed the door after letting CC in. "Shh." Athena tried to calm the baby down.

CC looked at the baby and then at Athena. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and swayed with her. "We make a great family, huh?" CC laughed a little and Athena smiled.

"Hey! I know you! You're that man down the street that plays the drums!" Sydney said when she saw CC standing in the hallway with Athena.

"Hey, you're right!" CC knelt down in front of her so he was eye level with her.

Athena watched him for a moment before going upstairs to put Brie to bed.

"Do you remember my name?" CC asked her.

"Um..."Sydney thought for a minute. "Um... Um... CC? It's CC, right?"

"Wow, you're smart!" CC said and Sydney smiled.

"I like you, CC. You're cool." Sydney jumped into his arms for a hug. "Hey, Athena? Is CC your boyfriend?" Sydney asked.

Athena smiled and looked at CC and then Sydney. "No, Sydney. CC and I are just really good friends. Max is my boyfriend, remember?" Athena responded.

"Oh, yeah... I don't like Max." Sydney made a face.

"Why is that?" Athena asked.

"I don't know." Sydney responded. "I can just tell there is something bad about him. I don't like him."

Athena shrugged Sydney's comment off. "CC? Can you put Sydney to bed for me?"

"Sure thing." CC said. "Let's go, princess!" CC picked up Sydney and brought her up the stairs to her room. He put her down on the bed and tucked her in.

"CC?" Sydney called out to him in the dark room, sitting up in bed.

CC walked over and sat down on the end of the bed next to her. "What's up, kiddo?"

"Do you like Athena?"

"Well, yeah, sure I like her."

"No, but I mean really, really like her."

CC smiled. "Yes, Sydney. I like Athena, very much."


	13. Love will kill us all

"Lacey? You never call me. Clearly something is going on. What's up?" Athena said into the phone.

"Have you seen the pictures from the party last night on facebook?" Lacey's nervous tone made Athena nervous.

"No, why...? And why do you sound so nervous?"

"Just look at the pictures. They'll explain everything."

The line was filled with dead air.

"Hello? Hello? Goddammit, Lacey."

Athena threw her phone on the bed and sat down on the end of her bed, pulling her laptop onto her lap. She brought up facebook and the first thing she saw on her news feed was a picture of Max, mouth to mouth with another girl. Athena's whole world crashed down around her. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing so she called Max, in hopes that this was all her imagination and none of it was actually real.

"Hey, beautiful. What's go-"

"Oh, don't give me that bullshit, Max." Athena felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"What the fuck are you-"

"The pictures?"

"What pictures, Athens?" Max sounded genuinely confused and Athena began to think that he had no idea that his party pictures were all over facebook.

"You mean you don't know? Pictures of you hooking up with that slut Jenna are all over the fucking internet, Max! I can't believe you would do that to me!"

"I hooked up with Jenna?" Max began to put together the pieces of last night's events in his mind.

"Don't play dumb, fucktard." Athena practically shouted.

"Shit..." Max finally remembered. "No, Athena, you don't understand. I didn't do this intentionally. I...I was high and drunk and-"

"Oh, shut up, Max. Those are a bunch of BS excuses."

"Babe, please. You have to believe me. I didn't mean to do any of it. I swear!"

Eventually, Athena gave into Max. She forgave him because she was afraid of losing him. She had loved him since they were little kids and her love for him grew stronger each passing day.

Max had been acting weird, though, the next few days afterwards. When Athena would ask him to hang out, he would always have an excuse. _I have a lot of homework._  Or _I have band rehearsal._  were his top two.

Athena was starting to get fed up with his excuses. One day, after school, Athena went straight to Max's house to see what he was up to. She couldn't take it anymore.

She walked up to his front door and knocked. No one answered. She knew he was home. His car was in the driveway. She hopped off the front step and peered into the window to see if she could see anyone. Her jaw practically hit the ground. There, on the couch in their full glory, was Max with Jenna underneath him. Max looked up briefly and saw Athena standing there with her mouth still wide open in shock and stained tears rolling down her cheeks.

Athena began to walk away but Max came stumbling out of the house with a blanket wrapped around his skinny waist.

"Athena! Wait!" He called for her.

"No, Max! You... You... You dick! I hate you! I can't believe you would do this to me!"

"Babe, can we just talk this out?"

"What makes you think I want to talk about this?! It's over this time, Max. I can't deal with this anymore. Have fun with Jenna."

Athena turned and ran. She didn't know where she was going, but anywhere was better than here.


	14. Secrets

Athena had been pent up in her room for days. She had never felt this way before. All she wanted to do was sleep and never get out of bed. It felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, slowly crushing her into nothing.

She lay there on her bed, looking at the new cuts on her arms. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she remembered her promise to CC. She knew CC would be upset with her and that made her even more upset.

There was a knock on the door and she mumbles a barely audible "Come in."

"Are we going to school today?" Her dad asked, poking his head in.

Athena sighed. "No." She said, flatly.

She hadn't been to school for two days but she still felt she couldn't go. She couldn't stand to see Max again. She knew she would just crumble beneath his gaze.

"Honey, I don't know what to do." Her dad sat on the end of the bed. "I'm a grown man. I... I don't know what to say to make you feel better. You need to go to school, though."

"I can't."

"Come on, Athena. Have you talked to Jane at all about this? I'm sure she can help you out."

"I don't want to talk to anyone. I just want to be left alone." She buried her face in her pillow.

"Alright. Last day I let you stay home. Tomorrow, you are going to school."

"Tomorrow is Saturday."

"Monday, you are going to school." Her dad kissed the top of her head and left for work.

Athena sat up in bed, scrolling through the missed calls and messages from Lacey, Max and CC. All Max wanted was to try and explain but she knew it was all bullshit. Lacey was trying to figure out what happened and wanted to see if Athena was okay. CC was wondering where she was and if she was alright. He really cared about her and wanted to make sure she was safe.

Now, she regretted saying she wanted to be alone. She needed someone to be there with her. She didn't want to be alone anymore. But, CC was at the studio with the guys and Lacey was at school.

"Athena?"

She turned around at the sound of her name to see Eric standing in the doorway.

 _When I wished for someone to come, I didn't mean him..._  Athena thought.

"Are you okay?" Eric continued.

"What are you doing here, Eric?" She asked.

"I, uh, came to drop something off for Jane but I thought I heard noises and I wanted to make sure everything was okay. I didn't expect you to be home."

"Oh... Um, yeah..." She wiped the tears that tried to escape her eyes.

"Why are you crying?"

"Long story..." She looked down at her lap.

"I have time." Eric said, stepping a little further into the room.

Athena smiled a little. "Okay." She patted the spot on the bed next to her and Eric sat down beside her.

She told him the whole story about Max. About the pictures, and how she forgave him the first time, and then she caught him in the actual act, and how her whole life felt like it was just falling apart.

Eric sat there and listened to everything she had to say and when she had finished, he did something that surprised Athena. He reached over and hugged her. He held onto her and made her feel, ironically, safe.

"Eric?" Athena said into his shoulder.

He pulled away so he could look at her.

"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?" She continued. "I mean, after what happened between us. I thought you hated me and you were just out to make my life miserable."

"It's a long story." Eric said.

"I have time." Athena copied his response from earlier.

Eric took a deep breath. "Okay." He began. "Well, I used to have a little sister. When she was four years old, she was diagnosed with cancer. Leukemia. My sister made me really happy. She was like my best friend. I was with her at the hospital whenever my parents and I were allowed to visit. After battling her disease for three years, the cancer won. She would have been the same age as you if she had survived. When I first met Jane and I saw she had a little sister that she was so close with, I guess I was a little jealous. Then, she and I got in a fight. You were the one person I knew she cared about the most and that's why that night happened. I won't tell you I wasn't somewhat attracted to you, because I was. You are a very pretty girl, Athena. But, when I saw the way that guy was touching you at the concert, I knew it was my job to protect you. It was as if, just for a moment, I had my little sister back and I couldn't let him hurt you. I was able to take over the role of an older brother again. I'm sorry if I ever hurt you. I know I was an asshole before but now you know my story. Jane doesn't even know."

By the time he had finished, he was in tears. "I never told anyone about my sister. She's always been like a secret. I felt that if I didn't tell anyone about her and no one knew about her, it would be as if she never really did exist and the pain of not having her around anymore would disappear."

"And did it?" Athena asked.

"For a while it did. But I don't think I want to go on pretending like she never existed anymore."

This time, Athena pulled Eric into a hug. "I think she would want you to remember her." Athena said.

Athena never would have guessed that Eric's past would have been like that. His life was perfect until his sister got cancer and then his whole world just crashed. Crashed the way Athena's life seemed to be. Now she knew his secret, but he still didn't know hers.


	15. Guess who

Andy led Lacey up the stairs and to his room at the end of the carpeted hallway. He rummaged through his drawers and handed Lacey a Misfits t-shirt and a pair of batman boxers for her to wear to bed.

"Batman, Andy? Surprise, surprise." Lacey laughed.

"Oh, just go change, would you?" Andy laughed along with her.

She went to the bathroom to change and came back to find Andy in bed already. He watched her stand there awkwardly before motioning her over to him.

"Get in." He said.

"Oh, um, are you sure? I can go sleep on the couch."

"No, it's fine, really. Jump in."

Lacey walked to the other side of the bed and slid in under the blankets next to him.

"You okay?" He looked over at her.

"Yeah, yeah, I think so."

"You look good in my Misfits shirt." Andy chuckled and Lacey laughed along with him.

"Oh, shut up. It's fucking huge on me. I look like an oompa loompa."

"Nah, I think you look...cute."

Lacey smiled and moved closer to Andy who put his arms around her. She closed her eyes and took in the smell of him as she slowly drifted off to sleep in his arms.

***

Athena pressed the phone to her ear and listened as each ring sounded. After the third ring, a voice said "Athena?"

"Yeah, CC. It's me. Hey." Athena said.

"Thank god you're okay! I've been going crazy worrying about you! I thought you died or something!" CC exclaimed.

"No, no, I'm... I'm okay."

"Good. Can I see you?"

"When? Now?"

"Well, maybe tonight? I had a little something in mind."

Athena could practically hear the seduction in his voice. "Oh...Um-" The doorbell rang. "CC, I'll call you back in a second."

"Okay, hurry back! I'll miss you too much!"

Athena laughed. "I'll talk to you in a few minutes, CC."

She hung up the phone and hurried down the stairs to the front door. She pulled the door open and her mouth fell open at the sight. There, standing on her front step, was the one person she thought she would never see.

"Mom?" Athena stared at the woman standing outside in the pouring rain.

Her hair was tangled, her mascara was running down her cheeks and her clothes disheveled.

"Can I come in?" Her mother asked.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, come in. Does-"

"No. Your father doesn't know I'm back. No one knows I'm back." Her mother took off her soaking wet jacket and draped it over a kitchen chair before sitting down.

"What happened to you?" Athena stood by the empty chair across from her mother.

Her mother patted the table in front of the empty chair. "Sit down. It's a long story." She said.

Athena looked at the empty chair and hesitated for a moment before she sat down. She knew CC was waiting for her call but Athena hadn't seen her mother for years and now here she was, sitting right in front of her. It was obvious to Athena that her mother came here for a reason.

She needed help.


	16. Date

"I just had to get out of there, Athena. I don't know why I ever left your father for him. I don't know why I stayed all those years." Her mom reached across the table and took Athena's hands in her own.

"I can't believe he abused you like that, Mom. He just... kicked you out of the house?"

"I didn't know where else I could go." Her mom looked down at her lap and pulled her hands back to her own body.

"Um, the police might have been a good place to stop."

"I wanted to go to the police but I just couldn't."

"Mom..." Athena's phone buzzed in her pocket. She knew who that was. She tried to ignore it but it kept buzzing.

"It's okay. Go ahead and answer it." Her mom smiled at her sympathetically.

Athena stood up and pulled her phone from her pocket as she walked down the hallway. "Hello?" She answered.

"You said you would call me back." She could hear the disappointment in CC's voice. "It's been almost an hour. Is everything okay?" CC's voice became frantic.

"God, CC. I'm fine for Christ sake." Athena said sounding a little more annoyed than she wanted.

"I'm sorry... I just got worried..."

She regretted what she had just said. "No, it's okay. I shouldn't have snapped at you just now. There's just... a lot going on right now."

"Mom?!" Athena heard Jane's voice coming from the kitchen.

"So, should we postpone tonight's plans?"

Athena sighed. She really didn't want to cancel but her mom had just come back. Something told Athena that her mom wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon so she said "No, we're still on. I can get a cover up."

"I'll pick you up at eight." She could hear CC smiling through his words.

She hung up and walked back to the kitchen where Jane and her mom were now hugging and crying. Athena heard the front door open and close. She knew that could mean only one thing. Her father was home. Athena retreated back a little into the shadowed hallway. She was afraid of what her dad's reaction would be. Jane backed away a little towards Athena when she saw her father standing in the entry way to the kitchen.

"Beth." He said. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Paul, I-" She began but was cut off by him raising his hand to her.

"Athena? Jane?" He looked over to where they stood. "Could you give your mother and me some privacy?"

Athena turned and scurried up the stairs with Jane following her. Once they were upstairs, in the safety of the hallway, Athena spun around to face her sister.

"Jane, I need a favor. I'm begging you."

"What do you need?" Jane looked down at her sister.

"You have to cover for me. Please."

"You're sneaking out? To where?!"

"Nowhere!"

"Is it a fucking party that I wasn't informed of?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

"Bitches..."

"Jane! Focus please. I need you to cover for me. Okay?"

"Fine... What time are you coming home?"

"I don't know yet but I'll let you know. Deal?"

"I suppose..."

"Thank you!" Athena threw her arms around her sister.

Jane laughed and hugged her back. "Okay, at least let me help you get ready?"

Athena agreed and Jane followed her into her room.

To CC:  **Don't pull up to the driveway. Park a few feet away and text me when you're here. I'll come meet you.**

After about two hours of Jane helping Athena get her hair, makeup, and outfit ready, it was nearing eight o'clock. Athena's phone buzzed on the bed and Jane went to go pick it up.

"Ooh. Who's CC and why is there a heart next to their name?" Jane looked up at Athena.

Athena practically jumped on top of her sister to retrieve her phone. "He's no one." Athena stated.

"He? Ooh, sis. You better be getting some tonight or I'll be disappointed."

"Oh, would you shut up and help me out the window?"

Jane giggled as she walked over to the window.

"Shit. Wait." Athena rushed over to her notebook on her bedside table and tore out a page that she folded up and stuffed into her pocket.

"What's that?" Jane questioned.

"Nothing, Ms. nosy. Now help me."

Jane helped Athena out the window and to the ground. "Let me know when you plan on coming home!" Jane called down after her sister.

Athena gave her a thumbs up and ran off to find CC's car. Sure enough, he had done what she said and parked a few feet away from the house. She jumped in the passenger's side and he greeted her.

"Now, close your eyes." CC commanded.

"Why...?" Athena asked skeptically.

"I want it to be a surprise!" CC exclaimed.

"Well, okay." Athena closed her eyes and felt the car begin to move.

They drove for what seemed like three seconds and then the car came to an abrupt stop. Athena figured they were at a traffic light or stop sign but CC's voice chirped, "Here! Open your eyes."

Athena slowly opened her eyes and saw they were sitting in a driveway in front of a house.

"Welcome to abode a la CC!" He smiled at her. "Come on."

She followed him inside and sat down next to him on the couch.

"So, tell me. Why did you go all MIA for a few days?"

Athena sighed and began to tell him all about Max. CC was infuriated that Max had hurt her so bad but now things were going just as he had planned. She finished her story and an awkward silence fell over them. CC looked over at Athena who was looking down at her lap.

"Athena?" He said.

When she looked up, he leaned in swiftly and connected their lips. To his surprise, she kissed him back. The kisses started out soft but got increasingly stronger. Athena couldn't believe this was all happening. She thought she was in heaven.

As CC's hands began to explore, a wave of fear washed over her. She put her hands on his chest and began to push him away roughly. CC's hands immediately dropped and he pulled away.

"Is everything okay? Am I moving too fast?"

Athena shook her head. "No, CC. It's not you." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the piece of notebook paper. "Read this." She handed it to him.

He opened it and began to read the first few sentences.

_CC, there's something I need to tell you and whether you ever read this or not, who knows. But I need you to know that I was raped._


	17. Busted

  _My rapist didn't know he was a rapist until I said no. I told him no but he continued to strip me of my clothes. And my innocence. I kicked, screamed, punched, cried, did everything I could but he wouldn't get off me._

_"You're going to love every second of this." He said to me as he slipped inside me._

_But I didn't want it. When he had finished with me, he thought that I had wanted it all. He smiled down at me like he had enjoyed it. He enjoyed hurting me. He walked out of the room, leaving me exposed and feeling like a worthless piece of shit. In a way, I felt like it was all my fault._

_He scared me so bad that I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone. I was too scared to do intimate things with my own boyfriend who I knew loved me and would never try and hurt me like he had._

_If you are reading this, it means you tried to touch me and I freaked out. I also just needed you to know, CC. I knew that if you truly cared about me, you would understand. I was raped by a person that I see almost every day. My own sister's boyfriend._

_Eric._

CC looked up at her, a tear forming in the corner of his eye. He had so many thoughts and emotions going through him.

"Your sister doesn't know?" CC managed to ask.

Athena shook her head. "No one knows except you, me and Eric." She looked down at her lap.

CC stood up from the couch and began to pace the room. He couldn't shake this intense feeling of anger that filled him to the brim. He balled up his fists and sent a punch straight at the wall.

At the sound of bone hitting drywall, Athena whipped her head around just in time to see CC's hand go straight through the wall.

"CC! What the fuck are you doing?!" She stood up and rushed over to him.

"I'm... sorry, Athena." He leaned up against the wall.

"It's getting late. You need some rest." Athena stroked his arm.

He nodded. "No, you're right. We both need to sleep." He took her by the hand and led her upstairs. "It's okay." He said, sitting down on the bed. "Just sleep. Nothing else, I promise."

Athena smiled and sat down on the bed next to him. "Thank you." She reached up and kissed him gently.

****

Sunlight poured into the room through the window on the other side of the room. Athena sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. She looked over at the digital clock on the bedside table that read 10:44 in bright red.

CC lay there snoring next to her. She smiled at his sleeping face and carefully stood up so she wouldn't wake him. She pulled off his large Iron Maiden t-shirt and put her own clothes back on from the night before. She placed a kiss on his forehead before sneaking down the stairs and out the door.

She was almost half way home when the one person she did not want to see showed up.

"Athena! Hey, Athena, wait up!"

She stopped walking but didn't turn around. "Fuck." She breathed.

"Athena, please look at me. I want to apologize. Please." Max's desperate voice pleaded from behind her.

She turned around to look at him. "No. Nothing you say is going to make me want you back, Max. I know why you were fucking Jenna. It's because I wouldn't fuck you, right? But, oh, Max. You have no idea what the reason behind it was. I was-"

Max's lips pushing against hers cut her off. She tried to push him away. "Fuck, Max. Get off me! No! Max, stop! Please!"

He kept going, kissing her harder.

"God, help! Please, someone!"Athena closed her eyes and wished for someone to help her.

She felt the pressure of Max's lips leave her lips and his hands drop from her body. When she opened her eyes, CC was standing in front of her. He didn't punch Max or even try to fight him. He just pushed him away from Athena.

"Fucking hell, Max! I was raped! Eric raped me! I don't need you, too!" Athena shouted at him and CC wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"Athena, I'm so sor-" Max began to try and apologize but the sound of sirens and the sight of flashing lights caught his attention and stopped him from continuing.

A very built police officer with short, dark brown hair stepped out of the car. "Max Gardner, put your hands where I can see them." The officer ordered.

Max put his hands above his head and shot Athena nervous glances. The police officer walked over to him, put his hands down behind his back and snapped the cuffs on his wrists.

"Max Gardner, you are under arrest for soliciting illegal substances and the murder of Aaron Kanter."

"Murder?!" Athena shouted.

"You have the right to remain silent." The police officer continued to read him his rights.

Max was put in the car and the police officer came back to confront Athena. "Miss? I'm going to need you to come with me."

"W-Why?" Athena was scared. She didn't want to have to tell the police everything.

"You were seen conversing and conducting in public displays of affection with the suspect. We need you to come in for questioning.

"But... He didn't- I mean, I didn't-"

"Standard procedure, Miss. I'm sorry. You can sit up front with me if it makes you feel better and I won't cuff you even though I'm supposed to."

Athena looked back at CC one last time before being placed in the car and driven away.


	18. Interrogation

"But I didn't do anything." Max said as he was seated in the interrogation room.

"You obviously did if you were brought here." Officer Jenson said as he sat down across from Max. "Now, just tell us about the girl. We already have evidence against you for the murder and the substances. We'll deal with that in court."

"What girl? Athena?"

"Is that the girl you were seen with before you were arrested?"

Max nodded.

"Then yes, her." Officer Jenson leaned back in his seat and waited for an answer.

Max fidgeted in his seat. "Athena had nothing to do with any of this. She's innocent."

"So, you didn't sell her any drugs?"

"No. I love Athena. I would never try to hurt her."

\---

"He's a fucking douche bag!" Athena shouted at the sound of Max's name.

Officer Cornell sat down across from Athena.

"He doesn't love me, and he **did**  hurt me! Hell, he practically raped me!"

"Athena, just calm down." Officer Cornell said, "He didn't try and sell you drugs?"

"No," Athena crossed her arms over her chest. "All he wanted from me was to apologize for cheating on me with that whore."

"That 'whore' would be?"

"Jenna Stone."

Officer Cornell quickly wrote down the name in her notepad.

"Um, Officer?" Athena sat up in her chair. "Did Max really murder someone?"

The officer sighed. "I'm sorry, Athena. I'm afraid I can't tell you about that." She said.

"Alright... Well, am I free to go now?"

"Yes, I'll escort you out."

Athena stood up and started to follow Officer Cornell down the hallway past many small offices.

"Athena! Wait! Let go of me! Let me talk to her, please!" Max tried to struggle away from the two police officers holding him back.

Athena looked back at Max and then at Officer Cornell.

"Go ahead." She said, "But make it quick.

Athena walked over to Max and the police let go of him but he was still cuffed.

"Athena, I'm sorry! I had no idea about you and Eric!" Max tried to apologize again.

"And you didn't even seem to respect me when I told you I didn't want to have sex with you so you went ahead and screwed Jenna behind my back. Yeah, you're real sorry, Max."

"But Athena-"

"I'll see you in court, Max." She turned around and followed Officer Cornell downstairs to the lobby where she waited for CC to pick her up.

"Hey, is everything okay?" He asked when she got in the car.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm alright." Athena looked out the window.

"That's good. Hey, I have a-"

"I want to do it." Athena turned her head to look at him.

"Do...What exactly?"

"It." She said as if everyone knew what 'it' meant.

"Oh, you mean-"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Now."


	19. I had you screaming my name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Sexual Content

"Are you sure you want to do this?" CC asked as he tossed his shirt to the floor.

Athena looked up into his deep brown eyes and nodded. "Yes, CC. I don't want to be afraid anymore and I know if I don't do this, I'm just going to be scared for the rest of my life. I trust you, right here and right now. I want you to show me that this can be fun. Now, would you get your pants off already?"

CC chuckled and continued to kiss her. He reached for the hem of her shirt and took hold of it, pulling it up and breaking the kiss to get it over her head. He tossed it to the floor with his shirt and Athena's hands wandered down to his belt buckle. One by one, each item of clothing was tossed to the floor in a pile. He placed his hands on her breasts and squeezed them gently, causing Athena to moan slightly.

CC smiled. "You like that?"

Athena nodded. "Yes. God, yes." Athena tangled her fingers in his black hair and pulled his head down to her neck which he began to suck on, nibbling occasionally. He moved his lips down her body and back up. She tugged on his hair and he let out a small grunt from the back of his throat. He slid himself inside her and slowly began to thrust in and out.

"CC, faster!" Athena begged.

Hearing her beg for him like that made him smile. He began to thrust his hips into hers faster and faster. She gasped when he hit a sensitive spot and clenched the bed sheets in her balled up fists. He kept going at a steady pace, hitting that sensitive spot. She arched her back in pleasure and pushed her body closer to his.

"Oh, fuck, CC!" Athena shouted. She dragged her nails across his back, leaving scratch marks. She felt this insane feeling of pleasure fill her entire core. "CC!" She cried again. She couldn't stop herself from screaming. This feeling was so intense.

They both reached their climax at the same time and CC collapsed on top of Athena, exhausted. He looked at her face and smiled. She had her eyes closed and it looked almost as if she was sleeping, so peaceful and beautiful.

She opened her eyes and saw him looking down at her. She smiled back at him and playfully pushed him off her.

"So, it was **so**  good that I had you screaming my name **and**  I have scratches all down my back. Damn, I'm good." CC said, pulling her closer to him.

"That's what it's supposed to be like? Holy shit. That was amazing. I don't think I've ever felt that good in my entire life." Athena said.

"We'll do it again soon, if you want." CC kissed her forehead.

"Oh, I want." Athena giggled.

CC got up out of bed and started putting his clothes back on.

"What are you doing?" Athena asked, sitting up in bed and pulling the blankets up over her uncovered body.

"Get dressed, I have a surprise for you." He said, pulling his shirt up over his head.

She got up and did as he told. As she pulled her shirt on, he saw them. The new cuts on her wrists that she had been hiding all this time.

"Athena?" He sat down on the end of the bed and she sat next to him. "What are those...?" He pointed to her wrists.

"CC, I'm so sorry. I-"

"Why? You promised."

"I know, I'm sorry!" Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. "Everything with Max pushed me over the edge. I wanted to call you. I didn't want to do this." She pointed to the cuts. "But I couldn't stop myself."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"You were in the studio and I didn't think I could bother you."

CC sighed. "Athena, you can call me any time of day and you wouldn't be bothering me." He pulled her into a hug and held onto her shaking body as she cried into his chest. "Shh." He tried to calm her down. " I have a surprise for you." He stood up and pulled out two tickets from his pocket. He handed one to Athena and watched her tears turn from sadness into joy.

"Oh my god, CC. You got me tickets to The Used concert?"

"Us. I got **us**  tickets. I know how much you love them and, let's be honest, they're amazing and don't go on tour quite often anymore. I figured it was the least I could do to help you forget about all this court stuff you have to deal with. Tonight, just you and me. We'll deal with court tomorrow."

"Is this, like, a date? Christian Coma asking me on a date?"

"Well, yeah. This wasn't just a 'let's have sex because I'm horny' type thing. I really care about you, Athena."

"Okay, it's a date." Athena smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

With all the court drama going on and her mother practically in hiding from her husband—for reasons no one knew yet—Athena had been feeling overwhelmed. This night with CC was exactly what she was going to need.


	20. Maybe we're just having too much fun

From CC:  **Are you ready to go? I'm in my car outside.**

From Athena:  _Yes. Come to the door_  


CC looked at the text from Athena and was confused. Go to the door? He shrugged. Maybe no one was home. He stepped out of the car and into the chilly October night. The only sound was the sound of his footsteps, making their way to Athena's front door.

He knocked twice and the door opened. Athena stood in front of him and smiled.

"Hi." He said.

"I want you to meet my dad." She said.

CC's eyes widened. "Uh...A-Are you sure about that? Does he know how old I am?"

"Well, no... but I still want you to meet him. He's nice, I promise. It will only take a second and then we'll go to the concert. Okay?" She flashed him that perfect smile and he just had to agree.

She took him by the hand and led him into the kitchen where her dad was.

"Daddy? This is Christian. You can just call him CC, though." Athena said, still holding onto CC's hand.

Athena's dad eyed him suspiciously before holding out a hand for him to shake. "Nice to meet you, son. I'm Paul."

CC shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, too, sir."

"Now, I want to be clear. If you do _anything_  to harm my daughter, I will personally cut your balls off."

"Dad!" Athena shouted.

"No, sir, you don't understand. Athena and I aren't-"

Paul held up his hand to cut him off. "Just keep my daughter safe tonight, alright?"

"That I can do." CC assured him.

Athena gave her dad a quick hug before taking CC's hand again and leading him outside.

"You two have fun tonight!" Paul called after them just before the door slammed shut.

"Tonight is all about you and me, promise." CC said as he started the car and drove off down the street.

*****

"OH MY, GOD! It's CC from Black Veil Brides!" An obnoxious, overly obsessed, wannabe scene fan girl shouted causing a crowd of people to surround him and Athena.

The concert was set to start in five minutes and already this night was not just about him and her.

"Can we have your autograph? Please, please, please?" Tons of voices shouted out at him at different times from different directions.

He looked over at Athena with apology written all over his face. She nodded at him to let him know it was okay. She knew how those fans felt. She had felt the same way once before, and still does every time CC is around her.

"Pst. Hey!" A voice said.

Athena looked around and saw these two guys beckoning her to go over to them. She slowly backed away from the huge crowd. She kept her distance but still went over to them.

"What do you want?" Athena asked.

"You wanna come with us for a smoke? Just a quick one." One of the guys said.

Athena looked back at CC briefly. She realized that tonight really wasn't about the two of them anymore.

"Sure, why not." She agreed and followed the two guys outside.

Once outside, the two pulled out bags of weed and some other substance that Athena didn't recognize.

"You ever smoked this stuff before?" The one holding the mysterious substance asked.

Athena shook her head. "I've smoked pot with my boyfriend before but I've never done that before."

"Is your boyfriend here? He can join us."

"No, no... He's not here..." Athena looked down at her shoes.

"So, you wanna try this stuff? Only if you think you can handle it."

Athena looked at the bag he was holding and then up at him. "Hit me up, bitches."

\-----

"Okay, Okay, no more autographs. I have to go. It was great to see you guys! BVB army forever!" CC started walking away from the huge crowd of fans to find Athena.

She slipped away from him while he was busy signing autographs and now he had to find her. He did not want to be on Athena's dad's bad side.

He walked outside and heard a familiar, airy laugh. He knew it was Athena. He ran in the direction of the sound. When he turned the corner, he saw Athena standing there with two guys, smoking something that was not cigarettes. It would have been obvious to anyone that Athena was completely shit-faced.

"Athena! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" CC jogged over to her. "Come on, we have to go home now."

Athena giggled. "Who are yoouu? I wanna stay here. I'm having fun."

"Athena, it's me, CC." CC took her hand.

"Ooohhh! CC! I didn't even recognize you!" Athena began to swing her arms.

"You the boyfriend?" One of the guys asked.

"Yeah... Uh, yeah, that's me." CC said.

"CC, I'm so dizzy. I see pretty patterns in the sky! Look!" Athena pointed to a tree across the street.

"Okay, Athena. I really need to get you out of here." CC said.

Athena's eyes closed and she began to fall backwards into CC's arms.

"Oh, god. She's out. Athena?! Can you hear me? Athena! Please, wake up!" CC held her limp body in his arms. "What did you two do to her?!"

"Hey, man. She said she could handle it. How were we supposed to know?" One of the guys said, holding his hands up in defense.

CC looked back down at Athena's lifeless face. "Athena! Please, Athena! Wake up..."


	21. Court

When Athena woke up, she didn't recognize the room she was in at first.

"Good morning, beautiful!" CC waltzed into the room with a towel around his waist and his hair dripping wet.

Then she realized she was in CC's room. "What happened last night?" Athena sat up, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"You almost overdosed." CC pulled a shirt on over his head.

"I what?!" Athena shouted. "On what?!"

CC shrugged. "I don't know what they gave you exactly but you're okay now. You better get dressed. You have to be at court in an hour."

Athena groaned. She forgot Max's court date was today. She took the dress that CC had laid out for her and went to the bathroom to change. When she came back to CC's room, he was already dressed and ready to go.

"Ready?" He smiled at her. He knew she was stressed and he was trying to stay positive for her.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She sighed.

****

"All rise." An officer said.

The judge was brought into the court room and sat behind his podium and gavel. He motioned for everyone to sit and began looking through the case papers in front of him before continuing on with the trial.

"Ms. Goldson, your first witness please." The judge said.

One by one, each witness was sworn in and brought up to the stand.

"I would like to call the defendant to the stand at this point in time." Ms. Goldson, the prosecution attorney, said.

Max rose from his seat and went up to the stand.

"Max, you're in a gang, is that correct?" Ms. Goldson said.

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily call it a gang but yeah, I guess." Max said.

"Okay, okay. And this 'gang'," She put air quotes around the word, "What types of things do you do? Get in fights with other 'gangs', sell drugs, what?"

Max glanced over at Athena and then down at his lap. "Um... Yeah, drugs..."

"That it?"

Max nodded.

"Tell me about Aaron, Max."

"I didn't do anything to him!" Max stood up and shouted.

"No further questions." Ms. Goldson turned around and sat back down.

Mr. Nelson, Max's lawyer, stood up and walked to the middle of the floor. "Max, if you didn't do anything to Aaron, what exactly happened?"

"I saw something happen. I wasn't involved in it." Max said.

"And you didn't do anything to stop it?"

"What was I supposed to do?! I knew that if I had tried to stop them from killing Aaron, I would have been killed too!"

"No further questions." Mr. Nelson said.

"You may sit back down, Max." The judge said.

"Wait." Max said as he stood up. "I have one more thing to say. I have sworn to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Max looked right at Athena. "Athena, I'm sorry. I love, you."

Athena was mortified. She looked down at her lap and hid her face with her hair. She felt CC pull her in closer to his side.

Each attorney shuffled through papers and began setting up their closing statements.

Ms. Goldson was up first. "We came here today for a reason and one reason only. To find the accused guilty of an awful crime and make sure proper punishment was given. The boy behind me was found dealing illegal drugs to minors as young as thirteen years old. He was an accessory to murder and I ask you, the jury, to do what you can to see that this does not happen again."

Mr. Nelson stood up and began his statement immediately after. "Max didn't do anything wrong. All teenagers go through phases. Drugs will never go away. They'll always be around and people will always find a way to get them. My client was no accessory to murder. He didn't provide the murder weapon nor did he lure the victim to the spot where he was killed. Max just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He saw something happen. If you were all here to catch a criminal, you've come to the wrong trial."

The judge called for a ten minute recess to give the jury time to discuss their decision. Athena began to get worried. Max kept looking at her and she knew that the defense's closing statement was much stronger than the prosecution.

"Have you come to a verdict?" The judge asked.

"We have, your honor." A blonde woman, who looked to be in her mid twenties, stood up. "We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty."

The judge banged his gavel. "It is settled. Max, you are free to go. Court is adjourned. Case closed."

Athena felt all the life being sucked out of her as she watched Max hug his lawyer in celebration. Those two words were going to haunt her for a very long time.

_Not guilty._


	22. Don't scream

The first few days after the trial, Max wasn't at school which made life a whole lot easier for Athena. But then, he came back. If Max was going left, Athena went right. If Max had the same lunch as Athena, she would sit in the library with Lacey and do homework or just talk. Athena did everything she could to avoid him.

When the final bell rang for the day, Athena went to her locker to put some of her books away before meeting Jane at the car. When she slammed her locker shut, standing there next to her was Max.

"Jesus Christ, Max. Don't sneak up on me like that." Athena stepped back a little away from him.

"I needed to talk to you." He reached for her hand but she pulled away.

"What the fuck could you possibly want to tell me? That you're sorry? Yeah, I heard that plenty of times already."

"I know you've been seeing CC. But I want you to know that I still love you. I always have. I'm better for you than he is. Come on, Athens. We've been best friends since first grade. That's like a whole ten years. You can't just throw it all away like this."

"But [i]you[/i] already did, Max. Best friends tell each other everything. You kept a lot of things from me. How do you expect me to trust you?"

"[i]You[/i] kept something from me, too. Eric?"

"Max, that is a completely different situation! No one knew about that until recently. That is _not_  something you can hold against me." Athena turned on her heel and stormed off down the hallway away from Max.

"Athena!" He called out after her but she ignored him. All she wanted was to get home.

"It's about time. What took you so long?" Jane said when Athena got in the car.

"Sorry... Max stalked me in the hall and made me talk to him." Athena slumped down in her seat.

The car ride was silent except for the sound of Rise Against gently pulsing through the speakers. When they arrived at the house, Jane let Athena out and told her she was going to Eric's house. Athena walked up to the house and let herself in.

"Hello? Mom? I'm home." Athena called out. She walked a little further into the house but no one seemed to be here. "Mom?" She called out again.

Her mom's car was in the driveway so she had to be here somewhere. Athena took another step and a hand snaked around over her mouth. She started to scream and then felt cool metal against her neck.

"Try screaming again and I drag this knife across your throat." A man's voice threatened.

The hand was removed from her mouth and replaced with a piece of cloth that he tied around her head like a gag. The man forced her hands behind her back and tied them together before returning the blade to her neck. He spun her around—being careful she didn’t see his face—and forced her outside. On the street in front of her house was a maroon van that hadn't been there earlier. The door opened and Athena was pushed inside. The door slammed shut and everything inside the van went dark.

Athena began to see another silhouette forming at the back of the van as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She managed to crawl towards the figure and she saw her mom's grim face looking back at her. She sat there tied up, just like Athena.

"Athena?" Her mom asked.

Athena nodded. She couldn't speak because the cloth was still tied around her head.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry about this. It's all my fault..."

Athena looked at her, confused. How was this her fault? All Athena knew was that she was in the back of a van, tied up and unable to move.

The van came to an abrupt stop, causing Athena to tumble backwards. The door slid open and all the daylight poured in, fighting off the darkness.

Athena was pulled out of the van and her mother right after her. She didn't see the man who was holding her and she didn't recognize the man gripping her mother. Once again, the blade was placed against her neck. She saw her mother's eyes widen in fear.

"No!" She called out.

Athena's eyes widened just as much as her mother's when she saw the strange man place a gun to her mother's head.


	23. Unofficial prison

Athena and her mother were forced inside the building which appeared to be some sort of warehouse or something. Through the door and down the stairs to a room with cells and cold walls. There were about five jail-like cells lined up next to one another, each with a mattress in a corner of the small cell. Athena and her mother were each pushed into separate cells.

"Don't try anything funny or you'll both die for sure." One of the men threatened before following the other back up stairs.

Athena's mom managed to untie her hands from behind her back once the two men disappeared. "Come here, honey."

Athena crawled over to her mom who untied the cloth from around her head and wrists. "Mom, what's going on? I'm scared." Athena turned to face her mother and tried to hold back the tears.

"I know, sweetie, me too. I'm sorry, this is all my fault. It's because I left Keith. He's the one doing this."

"Mom, what does your husband have to do with this?" Athena asked. Now none of this made any sense at all.

"Keith... He's a part of the mob... He thought that by me leaving him, his mob status would get out to the public and he would be arrested. This is his sick, twisted way of getting back at me for leaving him and making sure I keep his secret."

Athena just wanted to cry. This was all too much for a sixteen year old to handle. She laid down on the mattress and closed her eyes. She wanted this whole room to just disappear. She wanted to disappear herself.

A buzzing sensation coming from her back pocket kept her from slipping under to sleep. Then she realized she still had her phone in her back pocket.

"Mom, I have my phone! We can call someone. We can get out of here!"

"You can't call the police, Athena. If the police show up, we'll just be moved to another location, body searched and possibly killed. I know how this works. There's no way out." Her mother sat down on her own mattress in her cell.

Athena opened the message she had from CC and typed him a quick message explaining that she and her mother had been kidnapped and they didn't know where they were. All she needed was for him to save her.

An hour or so went by with no response from CC.

"Crap," Athena looked at her phone. "No service."

There was the sound of voices coming from the top of the stairs.

"Quick, hide it." Her mother advised.

Athena shoved the phone in her back pocket and sat there like she hadn't been doing anything but sit there for days. One of the men descended the stairs and checked on Athena and her mother.

"Did I untie you?" He asked Athena.

Athena nodded and the man just shrugged before heading back up the stairs.

Once he reached the top of the stairs, Athena heard a familiar voice shouting some pretty harsh things at the men.

"You bastards! Let me the fuck go! I swear to god, put that gun to my head and I shove it up your ass." Yup, that was Jane without a doubt. "Oh, hell no, motherfucker. Let me go! Fuck you, this is fucking assault. As soon as you all get caught, I'm going to visit prison and personally beat your asses, bitch!"

When Jane reached the bottom of the stairs, she was thrown into the jail cell next to Athena and the one closest to the stairs.

"Whore." One of the men spat at her before he turned to walk away.

"Oh? Well at least I'm not some fucking forty year old pervert like you, asswipe."

"You got quite a mouth on you, don't you." He turned at the bottom of the stairs to look at her.

"Yes I do and I _fucking_  love it. You can call me a whore, but at least I can get way more dick than you."

The man scoffed at her. "We're going to have a problem with the blonde one." He called as he walked back up the stairs.

"Oh, um... hi guys..." Jane noticed Athena and her mom sitting there looking up at her.

"You're my hero." Athena smiled at her older sister.

Jane looked over, nervously, at her mother. Her mother's tight lipped expression broke into a huge smile. "That's my girl."

Jane smiled back and sat down on the cold, concrete floor. Athena pulled her phone out and placed in on the concrete in front of her in hopes she would catch some bars.

"How do you still have your phone? They took mine... Fucking, no good, douche bags." Jane complained.

"It was in my back pocket. They must not have realized I had it." Athena explained.

Silence fell over the three of them. They all just sat there, not knowing what to say to one another.

"I have a secret..." Athena finally broke the silence. She couldn't take the guilt eating her up any longer. Her sister needed to know. "Jane, there's something you need to know...about...Eric."


	24. Is it worth it, can you even hear me?

"Hey Lacey," CC walked up to her on the sidewalk outside her house. "Do you know where Athena is? I checked her house but no one is home."

Lacey looked up at him. "She's not home? Well, then I have no clue where she could be."

Lacey turned to go back up the pathway to her house but someone started calling her name from down the street. She looked and saw Max jogging towards her and CC with a big cardboard box in his hands.

"Hey, Lace. I came to bring you all of my Black Veil Brides stuff. I'm not into them anymore." Max said, knowing CC was standing right there but pretending he hadn't seen him. "Oh, CC. I didn't even see you there."

"Um, thanks, Max." Lacey took the box from him.

CC really didn't want to deal with Max's dramatic attitude but maybe Max knew where Athena was.

"Do you know where Athena is, Max?" CC asked, trying to keep himself calm.

"She's not at home and she's not with you? Then there's nowhere else she could be." Max said. "Oh, by the way, CC, how's fucking my girlfriend? She good? Cause you know, I wouldn't know. I've only known her for ten years but no, she trusts you, some random guy who's way too old for her and who she's known for, hmm, two months?"

"Three..." CC corrected him.

"And she's no longer your girlfriend." Lacey added.

"Oh, we're keeping track, are we?" Max ignored Lacey and continued to mock CC. CC couldn't take it any longer. "Go ahead. Punch me. I know you want to." Max egged him on.

CC threw a punch that Max dodged. Max threw a punch back and hit CC square in the jaw.

"Guys, please stop this! You don't need to fight!" Lacey pleaded.

When punches kept going left and right, Lacey did something she would come to regret. She stepped right in front of them so they would stop fighting. CC saw her and backed off but Max was mid punch when Lacey stepped in front of him. His left fist connected with her jaw and a second later, his right fist hit her temple, knocking her to the ground. When Max realized who he had just hit, he backed away in shock.

"You idiot! Look what you did!" CC cried.

"I'm... I'm sorry... I-"

"Just shut up, Max." CC barked at him. "Lacey! Can you hear me? Lacey?" CC knelt at her side.

"Andy?" She asked, groggily.

"No, Lacey. It's CC. Can you hear me?"

Lacey groaned and her head fell limp to the side.

"She's out cold. We need to get her to a hospital. Now."

****

"How is she?" Andy asked CC as he walked into the room. Ashley, Jake and Jinxx followed him in.

"She's still unconscious..." CC looked down at the floor.

Andy just nodded somberly and looked at her bruised face. "Any idea when she'll wake up?" Andy asked, hopeful.

"No... I'm sorry, Andy..." CC shook his head. "Hey, do you wanna get some food? We might be here for a while."

"Sure..." Andy agreed. "You guys wanna come?" He looked over at Jake, Ashley and Jinxx.

"I'm gonna stay here with her, in case she wakes up before you guys come back. I don't think she would want to wake up in a hospital room all alone." Ashley said.

"Alright, we'll be back in an hour or so." Andy said before following the rest of the guys out the door and down the hallway.

Ashley sat in the chair beside the bed and took one of Lacey's cold hands in both of his. He looked longingly at her face, studying how each strand of hair covered parts of her face in such an elegant way.

He sighed. "Lacey, I'm sorry. I know you can't hear me, or maybe you can. Either way, I want to apologize for the way I acted when I drove you home that night. I guess I was just... keeping my guard up. I mean, you look totally bang-able but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hurt you. I see the way Andy looks at you. Hold onto him while you can. I know he really cares about you. Fuck, he tells me everyday how much he likes you."

As he lifted her hand up and pressed his lips against her fingers, her eyes fluttered open. She looked at him and smiled. He didn't need to say anything because she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Yes," She said, "I heard everything."


	25. The call

"Athena, just tell me what happened." Jane said. "You know you can tell me anything."

"Don't be mad at me or Eric. Promise?" Athena said.

Jane reached through the bars to hold onto her sister's hands. "Promise." She said.

Athena took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Eric raped me." She breathed out.

Jane sat silent. When Athena opened her eyes, she looked at her sister's pale face and lifeless eyes. "Jane? Please say something..."

"Why?" Was all Jane said.

Athena explained Eric's whole reasoning behind it. How he was drunk and mad at Jane because of the fight they had just gotten into so he wanted to get back at her. She told Jane about Eric's little sister and about CC and about everything she had been keeping from her sister. Jane just sat there and took it all in.

"So, you're not mad... are you?" Athena asked.

Jane looked at her. "No, I'm not mad." She said. "Shocked, yes. Mad, no. I couldn't be mad at you [i]or[/i] Eric for something like that. There's been a lot going on lately. I understand." Jane stood up and Athena followed, reaching her arms through the bars towards her sister in an attempt to hug her.

"Aw, how sweet. A family moment." A man's voice said.

Athena and Jane broke apart from each other to see who it was. Athena's mother stood up from the mattress she was just sitting on and walked to the front wall of bars on her cell.

"Stay away from my daughters, Keith. It's me you want, right? So, you have me. Why my daughters, too?" She asked.

"Beth," He walked over to her. "To make you suffer more, of course. If you had never left, none of this would be happening. Say you'll come home with me and your daughters will go free, safe from harm."

"Mom, don't do it!" Athena begged. "We'll be okay. Don't do this to yourself. You can't stay with him!"

"You shut up." Keith smacked a wooden stick against the bars. The sound reverberated off the walls. "So, Beth?" He looked back at her.

"No, Keith." She said. "Kill me if you must. But I will [i]never[/i] go back to living with you again."

"Huh, too bad. Looks like your daughters are under my control now."

With the snap of his fingers, one of his henchmen lifted a gun and pointed it at Athena. He cocked the gun and put his finger on the trigger.

****

CC, Jake, Jinxx and Andy all sat around a table in the hospital cafeteria.

"Still no word from Athena?" Andy asked CC.

CC shook his head. "I have no idea where she could be."

"Check your phone recently?" Jinxx suggested.

"I'll check again but I highly doubt she-" CC looked down at his phone and stopped mid sentence when he saw Athena's name light up the screen. "Hello? Athena?" He answered.

"CC?" It sounded like she was crying.

"Athena, what's going on?"

"You have to come save me, please."

"Wh-Where are you? I'll come right away."

The other end of the line went dead. "Athena?! Hello?!" CC panicked.

"What's going on?" Andy asked.

"I have no idea. She just told me I had to go save her. I don't know where she is. I'm scared, guys."

"Don't worry, CC. We'll help you." Jake comforted. "Let's go grab Ashley and get out of here. We need to figure out what's going on."


	26. Mission

"CC? Where are we going? How are we supposed to find her?" Andy asked.

"I don't fucking know, Andy!" CC slammed his hands on the steering wheel.

"Jesus, calm down, dude."

"I'm sorry..." CC said, " I'm just frustrated. I want Athena back. I want to make sure she's okay."

"I know, dude. We all do. Do you want me to drive?"

"No, we're already here." CC pulled into Athena's driveway.

"Where exactly is 'here'?" Jake asked from the back seat.

"Just stay in the car. I'll be out in a few minutes." CC said before getting out and slamming the car door shut.

He walked up to the front door and knocked twice. He heard two men's voices talking before the door opened.

"Oh, CC. Hello." Paul answered the door. "Athena isn't here..."

"I know." CC said. I came to tell you that she's not safe. I need you to help me find her."

"Come in, come in." Paul stepped aside to let CC inside.

Paul led him to the kitchen where another guy with huge lime green plugs sat at the table. Paul sat down next to the guy and motioned for CC to sit as well.

"Beth left me this note and I found it on the counter when I got home." Paul slid the piece of paper across the table to CC.

 _Dear Paul,_  It read, _I have to leave again. I'm going back to Keith and I'm taking Jane and Athena with me. Don't bother trying to call us because we don't want to hear from you. The girls have decided they are happier with me. Goodbye, Paul._

_-Beth_

CC looked up at him. "Your wife didn't write this." He said.

Paul looked confused. "But it's her handwriting..."

CC shook his head. "She was forced to write it. I think that this Keith guy abducted Jane, Athena and your wife."

"Are you sure?" The guy with the plugs asked. "I'm Eric, by the way. Jane's boyfriend."

CC felt a fire begin to burn in the pit of his stomach. This was the guy that had caused Athena so much pain. CC swallowed his anger and shook the hand that Eric had extended for him.

"Yeah," CC continued, "Athena called me and told me I needed to save her. But the problem is I have no idea where she could be."

"I can track the phone call." Eric said. "I just need a computer and your phone and I can track the call."

Paul went to Athena's room and grabbed her laptop. CC gave Eric his phone. Eric started typing in things and pushing all sorts of random buttons.

"There." He said after about ten minutes. " I found them. They're right there." He pointed to a red dot on the screen.

"Hey, I know where that is!" Paul exclaimed. "That's where the old Woolry Warehouse used to be."

"Uh, what's the Woolry Warehouse?" Eric asked.

"It used to be a store back in the 70's when I was your age." Paul explained. "I know exactly where that is."

"Well, let's go!" CC said and stood up from the table. "Eric, you go with Paul. I have four other guys in my car right now. We'll follow you guys there."


	27. Saviour

CC pulled into a parking spot beside Eric's car and got out, the guys following his actions.

"Are you sure this is the place?" CC asked, looking around at the big, abandoned looking building in front of them.

"It's gotta be. This is the place the phone call was traced to. They have to be in this building somewhere." Eric said. "Come on, let's go." Eric started walking toward the building.

"Boys, wait a second. Assuming these men have weapons, what are we going to do? We can't just go in unarmed." Paul said. Everyone agreed. Ashley slowly raised his hand.

"Yes, Ashley?" Andy called on him.

"I have a flat iron." He said.

Andy's palm connected with his forehead. "Ashley, that's not very helpful right now."

"Why don't we just call the police?" Jinxx suggested.

"No, we can't do that." CC said.

"Well, why not?" Jake asked.

"Because..." CC folded his arms over his chest. "I've always wanted to be that knight in shining armor hero who saves a damsel in distress..."

"CC..." Andy sighed. "This is no time to be living out your fantasies. This is serious shit. We're going up against big guys with big guns that can blow your brains out in one shot."

"Mmm, comforting, Andy. Thanks." CC retorted.

"Hey, maybe they keep some spare hand guns or something in the back of those vans." Eric pointed to the line of vans on the other side of the parking lot.

"They probably keep their cars locked, though." Jake said.

"I can pick a lock." Eric said.

"What can't you do, Eric?" CC asked.

Eric rolled his eyes at him before motioning the rest of the group to follow him. The seven of them snuck across the parking lot and towards the vans.

"Alright," Eric said, kneeling beside the lock of the back of the van.

In a moment's time, there was a click and the back door of the van was unlocked. In the back of the van, there was an array of guns.

"Everyone grab one." Eric ordered. Everyone grabbed one before Eric shut the doors to the van.

"Follow me." CC said.

They all followed him to the front door of the building. They gathered on the steps and CC looked around at the group before holding up his gun and kicking the door down. They entered the first room of the building to find it surprisingly empty.

"There's no one even here?" Andy half-whispered.

A gun shot fired causing multiple to sound through the empty halls of the old building.

\--

"I hear gun shots from upstairs." Jane said.

Athena looked up at her, hope filling her eyes. "Someone must be here! Someone who will come save us! Help! Help!" Athena shouted. Jane joined her in calling for help but the gun shots kept sounding.

"Keep trying!" Athena encouraged. "Someone help us!" She yelled out.

\--

"CC! Did you hear that?" Andy shouted over the gun shots.

By now, most of Keith's men were too injured to fight back or they were dead.

"I hear someone calling for help!" Andy continued. "Over there!" He pointed to a door on the other side of the room. "Take Eric and Paul with you! Jake, Ashley, Jinxx and I will fight them off. Go! Be that knight in shining armor hero!"

CC smiled. "Thank you, Andy." He said before turning in the direction of the door. "Eric! Paul! Over here!" He called to them.

The rushed over to him and followed him through the door and down the stairs. There, at the bottom of the stairs, was Athena, Jane and Beth.

"Athena!" CC exclaimed and rushed over to her cell.

"Eric!" Jane reached out to him through the bars.

"Don't worry, babe, we'll get you guys out of here." Eric said and began searching through his pockets for the device he used to pick the lock earlier.

"Paul?" Beth looked over at her ex-husband.

"Beth!" He ran over to her cell.

"Your lip is bleeding!" She said.

He reached up and saw his fingers stained with blood. "Oh, don't worry about me. What matters is that you're okay."

"You came to save me? But...Why? After the way I treated you-"

"Because I love you, Beth." Paul took her hand in his and caressed her cheek.

There was a clunk sound and Jane's cell door opened. She jumped into Eric's arms before letting him unlock Athena's and her mom's cells.

Athena limped into CC's arms and cried into his chest. She had missed his arms around her, the feeling of protection he gave her and the smell of him surrounding her.

"Athena, are you okay?" He asked, kissing the top of her head.

She shook her head subtly and looked down at her leg. There was a tear in her pant leg and blood was seeping through.

"Oh, god. What the hell happened?!"

Athena sniffled. "Keith... shot me."


	28. It's not too late, it's never too late

When Athena woke up, she found herself in a hospital room with CC, her mother and her father standing around the bed.

"You're awake!" CC leaned down and pecked a kiss on her lips.

"CC... Not with my parents here..." Athena's cheeks flushed a bright pink color.

There was a knock on the door and the doctor came in the room. "Well, Athena, looks like you're free to go." The doctor said.

"Wait, what happened to me?" Athena said.

"You were shot in the leg but not to worry, the bullet just grazed by your leg. It didn't go into the muscle or shatter any bones. You lost a lot of blood and you passed out on your way here last night but we were able to replace some of the blood and your leg should be okay to walk on. It may feel a little sore but that's normal and should go away within the next few days."

"Oh... Okay, thank you."

The doctor smiled and left the room. CC helped Athena out of the bed and helped her walk to the door.

"Athena, wait." CC stopped her outside the elevator. "You know how much I like you; love you, even. I know it's taken me so long to officially ask you but I was hoping I could finally call you my girlfriend."

Athena smiled and stood on her tip toes to kiss him. "Of course, CC--my knight in shining armor." She reached for his hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

When the elevator reached the first floor, they walked to the lobby where Athena's parents were waiting. Athena hugged her dad and then her mom before returning to CC's side.

Paul smiled. "I approve. CC, my boy, you're a good guy. I think you'll be just perfect for my Athena."

"Thank you, sir." CC responded.

"But just remember, what I said before still stands."

"I promise I won't do anything but protect her. I would like to keep my balls, that's for sure." CC said.

Athena's attention this whole time had been focused on the glittery ring on her mom's finger.

"Mom-" Athena began but her mother cut her off.

"Your father and I have some news for you." She looked down at the ring on her finger and then back up at her daughter. "We're getting re-married."

"Wait..." Athena tried to process it all. "To each other?"

Beth giggled. "Yes, sweetie, to each other."

"Oh my god!" Athena exclaimed.

This had to be the happiest moment in her life. She had the greatest boyfriend any girl could ever ask for and now her parents were getting back together. For once, everything was going right.

***

The minute they arrived at the hospital with Athena, Andy rushed to Lacey's room. All he wanted to do was see her, hold her, be with her.

"Lacey...?" Andy sat beside her bed and held onto her hand. "Do you... Do you get bullied often?"

Lacey sighed. "It's nothing I can't handle, Andy."

"Lacey, you need to get help or something. You can't keep letting them torture you like that. If you don't do something, I will."

"I'm fine, Andy. Really." Lacey reached up to brush some of her hair out of her face and Andy saw the scars. They were very faint but they were still there. Out of instinct, Andy grabbed her wrist and pulled it towards him.

"What the fuck are those?" Andy pointed to them.

"Andy, I'm... I'm... I'm sorry...I-"

"Why did you do it, Lacey?"

Lacey started to blink back tears. "I'm so sorry, Andy! I was just so lonely... They aren't new ones... Athena was always with Max and I was jealous and those girls at school would push me down and kick sand in my eyes and call me emo and a freak. I just couldn't handle it."

A tear escaped and trailed down her cheek. Andy wiped the tear away with his thumb.

"Look at me." He said. "You're not alone anymore. You have me, I'll always be here for you."

"But I don't want to bother you."

"Lacey..." Andy put his head in his hands and then looked up at her again. "If you're in danger of hurting yourself, it's never a bother. I want you to know that I'm here for you whenever you need me. I care about you. I love, you."

"Andy, it's too late for you to save me. I'm already fucked up as it is."

"No, it's not too late. It's never too late."


	29. He always made her happy, no matter what

"Alright, alright, everyone line up! It's time, it's time!"

Women were rushing around the room trying to do last minute touch-ups. Athena, Jane and the rest of her mom's bridesmaids walked down the aisle, and lined up on either side of the altar. The music began to play as her mother was escorted down the aisle by her grandfather.

Athena was overjoyed to see her mom in her big white wedding dress and her dad standing there waiting to receive his bride. She was even happy that Eric was there.

Since Eric's whole confrontation, Athena had learned to like him. She just had to put the past away.

When the wedding was over, everyone went to a near by hotel for the wedding reception.

"I'm sorry I've put you through all this." Athena sat down next to CC at a table. "Through my shitty life, and having to save me from the mob."

"Hey, it was an adventure. I've never had so much excitement in my life before. Plus, the sex is fantastic. I might just have to keep you around, Athens." CC said.

"Shut up!" Athena pushed him playfully. "My parents, let alone anyone here, don't know about the... you know what."

CC gave her a smirk.

"What's that look for?" Athena asked.

"We're in a hotel..." CC winked.

"CC! Oh my god... No, not on my parents' wedding night. We can't just sneak off to have sex."

CC crossed his arms and slumped down in his seat. "Fine..."

"Oh, stop being a big baby." Athena giggled. "I promise you'll get some soon."

"Yay!" CC jumped in his seat like a little kid.

"Alright, we're going to slow things down a bit for the bride and groom's first dance." The DJ announced.

The slow music began to play and Athena's mom and dad held each other close as they glided around the dance floor. More and more couples joined them as the song changed.

"Do you want to dance with me?" CC stood up and help out a hand for Athena to take.

"Of course." Athena smiled and took his hand.

He walked her out to a spot on the dance floor. She draped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

Athena never thought that her life would ever change so drastically. She had thought she was happy before but that moment--CC holding her close-- was the happiest she had been in a long time.

CC had always been her favorite out of all the guys in the band. He always made her happy.


End file.
